The Pallet Boys
by WillowBlueJay17
Summary: Contrary to popular belief, Red was actually rather fond of that energetic kid from Pallet named Ash Ketchum. A series of one-shots about the lifelong friendship between the legendary Champion and the hopeful master-in-the-making. To be updated sporadically. CHAPTER 12 IS UP NOW!
1. You'll Be Okay

Hello there, everyone! Long time no see, huh? I apologize greatly for my failures. College suddenly dropped a ton of work and tests on me, so I found myself insanely busy for the past few months. I only had a little time to ever go online for fun, certainly not enough to write. However, vacation has started for me, so that means I can actually get stuff done! And I thought that I could kick off my vacation with a new story taking place in the world of Pokémon!

By the way, to those who are waiting for an update for "A Father's Duty", don't worry! I'm not abandoning it! I've mentioned that my library only has a limited number of copies of Finding Nemo. Thanks to a series of events, we now have even fewer, and they've been taken out. My library has a rather long lending period for movies. But the second I get my hands on a copy, we'll start up the next chapter of that story. Also, sadly, I'm afraid I'm going to have to delete the story "Our Lives At Hogwarts". I apologize to everyone who liked the story and wished to see more of it, but I have lost any and all inspiration and motivation to continue it. And it's not fair to you readers if I just keep it lying there. So, I'm removing it. I am sorry for that.

So, getting into this story, as the summary suggests, I'm taking on the characters of Ash and Red (gameverse, since I am not into the manga) through a series of connected one-shots. Now, just to make things clear, I have stuck with the anime since it first aired here in the United States and I have also played FireRed, SoulSilver, Platinum, Black, and Black 2. I love the games and I treat the Pokémon I battle with as though they were real (which has led to several awkward moments of my Dad walking in on me giving my Pokémon a pep talk before big battles). What I also want to make clear is that I love both Ash _**and**_ Red. I find the character of Red from the games to be rather cool and definitely interesting to think about. But I love Ash way more, ever since I first watched the series all those years ago. This story will combine elements of the game and anime, along with a bunch of stuff I'm adding in for the sake of creating a fun universe. Since the beginning notes are already this long, I'll continue what I wanted to say about these two and the direction I plan on taking this story in the bottom notes of this page.

P.S…There will be absolutely _no shipping_. Pokémon is one of those shows I've never wanted romance in. Didn't ship anyone as a child, don't ship anyone now. So, let's get into the story now!

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon, whether it be the manga, the anime, or the games.

* * *

"The poor dear…To be widowed so soon."

"He was so young too…"

"Their child is only nine months old…"

The adults were all whispering amongst themselves, shaking their heads in disbelief and pity. Everyone was dressed in some sort of black attire as they sat in the funeral hall.

In the front row, a six year old boy with black hair and reddish-brown eyes sat beside his mother. His face was impassive as he looked in the direction where the ones the adults were whispering about were seated.

A young Delia Ketchum sat beside the closed casket that contained her beloved husband, staring at it with blank eyes. In her arms was an unusually quiet baby, her son Ash.

Red was rather surprised at this, having never seen any baby stay calm for so long before. Then again, glancing over his shoulder to where the Oak family was seated, even Red's chatterbox of a friend/rival, Green, was abnormally solemn.

Funerals just had that effect, Red supposed, though Red couldn't help but think that Green was probably being reminded of his own parents' deaths nearly one year ago.

The fact that Mr. Ketchum was so well known and loved in Pallet Town only added to the dark mood filling the air.

Mr. Ketchum was one of Professor Oak's assistants at the lab, smart and exceptionally talented for a man so young. He was always the first to go into the field and get hands on with the wild Pokémon. He enjoyed interacting with all kinds of Pokémon, no matter their size or attitude. When he and his wife had their son, he was eager for him to grow up so that he could instill his passion for Pokémon in Ash.

No one expected that Mr. Ketchum's life would be cut short by the Pokémon he loved so much, by a sudden stampede of panicked Rapidash and Ponyta.

Red was the only one in the funeral hall, other than baby Ash, who was neither crying nor feeling despair over the tragic loss. It wasn't that he didn't think Mr. Ketchum was a nice man. Red just didn't get particularly close to people in general. And it was rather hard to mourn someone he didn't know that well.

Some liked to say it was because he had been affected by the fact that his father had abandoned him and his mother two years earlier. Those same people also cited this abandonment as the reason why he talked so infrequently. But, truthfully, Red had always been like this. He loved his mother, was rather close to the Oak family, and adored Pokémon without question. But he just wasn't that much of a social kid, and he preferred to talk only when he really wanted to.

That didn't mean he was an emotionless stick in the mud though. He just let his actions and facial expressions do the talking for him most of the time.

* * *

A few hours later, Mr. Ketchum was laid to rest in a cemetery that was filled with flowers and the soft cooing of Pidgeys.

Once all of the mourners had departed, Red's mother and Professor Oak insisted on going over to the Ketchum residence to comfort Mrs. Ketchum. Professor Oak asked Green to go home to the lab, where Green's twelve year old sister, Daisy, had been watching over their brother Gary, who was a few months older than Ash and far too fussy to take to the funeral. Red's mother told Red that he could stay at the lab too, but Red shook his head and clutched his mother's hand.

The second Mrs. Ketchum opened the front door, she threw her arms around Red's mother and sobbed. The group eventually made their way inside as Red's mother and Professor Oak comforted the distraught widow.

"What am I going to do without him?" Mrs. Ketchum cried.

Red stood off to the side, teetering back and forth on his feet. As he looked at the pictures on the wall, he heard a faint sound…A whimper…

He looked over towards the three adults, but it didn't look like they had heard it. Red glanced up the stairs as he heard the whimper again.

With one more look at the adults, Red quietly climbed the stairs. He went down the hall, letting the sounds guide him to a room at the end of the hall.

Red glanced through the open doorway. The small room was covered in blue wallpaper that had pictures of Horsea, Vulpix, and Pikachu all over. Stuffed versions of Pokémon littered the ground, surrounding a crib.

Red slowly approached the crib in which Ash was sitting up, tears pooling in those big brown eyes of his.

"Ba…" Ash moaned lowly once Red was right next to the crib.

Red raised an eyebrow at that. "Ba"? What did _that_ mean?

"Ba," Ash repeated a little more loudly, his sniffling getting worse, "Ba!"

Red looked around, wondering if Ash was trying to say "bottle". Was he hungry?

Ash kept repeating that word, though Red couldn't see any bottle in the room. He sighed as he started to head out, not wanting to be anywhere near the baby when he started to really wail.

"Baba!"

Red paused at the doorway and looked back at Ash, whose tears had finally started to fall and looked utterly miserable. The six year old found himself going back to the crib, though he had no idea what Ash wanted. Ash lifted his arms and reached towards something past Red.

"Baba!" the infant sobbed.

Red followed the boy's gaze. He was reaching for the wall…No, it was the picture on the wall.

As Red stared at the picture, one of the Ketchum family, he finally understood what Ash wanted…And there was no way he could give Ash what he wanted.

Ash lowered his arms as Red squeezed his own arm through the crib bars and started to gently pat the tufts of black hair on the infant's head. Ash's lip still quivered but the gentle pats convinced him to lie down.

Red then moved his hand to Ash's hand. The baby's fingers wrapped around Red's index finger. Red looked at Ash's face, not as miserable looking as before but still streaked with tears.

"There, there," he whispered, "You'll be okay…"

* * *

And we're done with chapter one! A rather short chapter, this is more of a set up. This chapter and the two after it are going to be in chronological order. Their purpose is to set up the bond between Red and Ash as this series goes on. Maybe the fourth one will also be in chronological order, I'm not certain yet. After that, the chapters will jump around a bit. I may even add in a couple of AU chapters.

As you can see, I named Red's rival Green. This is because the original games were called Red and Green, so it was my choice to go with that. And, in an interesting twist, I made Gary into Green and Daisy's little brother. Honestly, this was because I had no idea how else to have it work. I mean, I didn't want them to be cousins but both families were orphaned so that's why they live with Oak (yes, I do think those kids are orphans, but that's a headcanon of mine). Green and Gary will make the occasional cameo, but this story will primarily focus on Red and Ash. Also, I'm aware that the anime states that Ash's dad is on his own journey, but I said that I would be adding in some of my own elements to make this universe a bit different.

Like I said before, this will be a series of one-shots. Most will involve friendship and humor, though a few, like this chapter, will go into some sadder or darker stuff. I do have a couple of AU chapters in mind and there is one chapter I would like to do that will sort of be a take that concerning something about the anime series that has annoyed me.

So, let me talk a bit about Red and Ash. A good portion of the fandom seems to have this idea of idolizes Red to the point of perfection while making Ash seem too stupid to live. Is everyone entitled to their own interpretation of characters? Yes. Does that mean I have to agree with them? Nope! Look, I love Ash more than Red but I firmly believe Red would beat Ash in a battle (though, unlike some people, I know some of Ash's Pokémon can put up a good fight). I also think fans treat Ash way too harshly and scold him for things that are perfectly reasonable. Not that he doesn't do some silly things. Also, some fans have to remember that there are different rules concerning Pokémon in the game universe and anime universe. But that's another thing. For this story, I'm going to play Ash as true to character as I can…A lovable goofball who is capable of some awesome things. As for Red, you can see in this chapter part of my interpretation of him. Someone who is not too social but perfectly capable of showing emotions through actions rather than words. I'm going to try and make sure Red has as few spoken lines as possible, but he will speak at least once. Though, I do have a couple chapters in mind where he's a bit chattier. I'll also try to expand upon Red's character and how being a Champion affects him. I will also see if I can have at least one chapter on the fact that I made his father abandon the family. And yes, I made Red a few years older, because I like to think of him as a big brother figure.

Well, I'll add more notes as I go along with this story. So, I'll see you with the next chapter soon! Please read and review!


	2. Adventures In Babysitting

Hi again, everyone! It's kind of soon, but here's the next chapter! Thank you to the one person who left me a review….Can a few more people leave me one, please?

I have a question for my readers. Which Pokémon do you think has the best looking shiny sprite? And, as a follow-up to that, have any of you ever caught a shiny Pokémon?

For me, and I know you think this is a cop out but I really can't pick, it's a three way tie between Charizard, Sceptile, and Krokorok. As for catching a shiny, I managed to catch a shiny Paras in my FireRed game. I feel bad though, because I see people saying how they've tried for so many hours to get one, or that they've tried all these different methods, or that they've haven't caught one in all their years of gaming…I literally found mine five minutes after I first walked into Mt. Moon, just as I was making my way through…

Alright, anyways, let's get into the story!

Disclaimer: Pokémon is not mine to own…I don't know what I would do with all of that money.

* * *

It was a rather warm late morning in Pallet Town, but not unbearably so. Most of the residents were about doing their work or playing with their Pokémon.

Red sat in the shade of a large tree in his front yard, eyeing the ones with Pokémon enviously. He had only just turned nine, so he still had some time to go before he could get his own partner and set off on his journey.

The sound of laughter and shouting forced his attention away from the Pokémon. He smirked a little as he saw a three year old Gary Oak chasing around three year old Ash Ketchum with a gardening hose.

Red and his mother had been put in charge of watching the two for the day. Mrs. Ketchum and Daisy were in Celadon City, Mrs. Ketchum wanting to visit an old friend and having promised to take Daisy to the department store. Professor Oak was following up on a report of an unusual Pokémon sighting in the Viridian Forest, and Green had gotten his grandfather to take him along. The man had invited Red, but between the look Green was giving him and the idea of being in the middle of the forest for an extended period of time with his rival, Red passed on the offer.

As Red thought of Green, he couldn't help but shake his head over how much the guy had influenced his younger brother. Gary already looked nearly identical to Green, with that same spiky brown hair and green eyes. But, now that he was a little older, Red could see the similarities in personality between the pair, especially concerning Gary's relationship with Ash.

Ash and Gary were nearly always competing over something or trying to do something better than the other. Red was practically feeling déjà vu, remembering his former and ongoing competitions with Green. However, Red was glad to note that at least Ash and Gary seemed to get along well enough as friends as much as they did as rivals-in-the-making. It had been a couple years since Red and Green had done anything together purely as friends, not as two kids trying to outdo each other.

"Red, help me!"

Red looked in the direction of Ash's shout. Ash was sprinting towards him, hoping to find refuge from Gary's attack. Red's eyes widened when he saw Gary's grin turn a little more devious as he followed Ash closely, raising the garden hose, his finger on the trigger. Red quickly waved his arms at Ash, a warning for him to turn around, run in any other direction.

Unfortunately, Ash wasn't old enough to understand Red's silent cues…The second the toddler reached Red, Gary pressed the trigger and doused the pair in ice cold water.

"Jerk…" Ash muttered as he rubbed water out of his eyes.

"Got you both!" Gary snickered.

Red let out a low sigh as he watched water drip down from the edge of the bill of his baseball cap. Gently pushing Ash away, the older boy stood up and grabbed both of the toddlers by their arms. Ash and Gary both protested as Red pulled them towards his house, his sneakers making that aggravating squishing noise with each step.

"Yes, what is it?" Red's mother asked as she opened the door. She put a hand to her mouth when she saw the three thoroughly soaked kids in front of her, "Oh my…"

Red nudged the younger two forward, frowning as he looked at his mother and gestured to how soaked all three of them were. His frown deepened when she started giggling.

"I'm sorry, honey," she laughed as she put a hand on her son's shoulder, "I'm sure they didn't mean any harm. Alright boys, let's get you three dried up."

"Aww…" Ash and Gary moaned as she led them inside, Red right behind them and still looking a little mad.

* * *

"Red, do you think you can handle the boys on your own for a little while?"

Red snapped his head up from the Pokémon book he had been reading and stared at his mother with panicked eyes. What did she mean by asking that?

"One of my friends just called saying she was sick," his mother explained. She motioned to the basket hanging off her arm, "I made medicine and some healthy food to give her."

Red got up and stuck his hand out, more than willing to deliver the basket. Way more willing than watching over two hyperactive kids.

"I would let you drop it off, but her house is all the way across town and you've never been there before," she told him with a shake of her head. She stepped forward and kissed his cheek, "I'll be back by five o' clock. That's only four hours, I'm sure you can handle it, Red."

Red furrowed his eyebrows as he looked at her, a clear sign that he wasn't as confident as she was in his babysitting abilities.

"Come now, Red, you're going to be a trainer next year, aren't you? You'll have a bunch of little friends that you'll have to look after yourself. Just think of this sort of as practice for that."

Red could think of many retorts he could make about how raising Pokémon and looking after two little kids was pretty different, but he knew his mother wouldn't give in. So, with a sigh, he nodded, agreeing to look after Ash and Gary until she returned.

* * *

"Red, Gary's hurting me!"

"Ash stepped on my foot!"

"I'm hungry!"

"I'm thirsty!"

"Let's play!"

"Can we, Red?"

"Red?"

"Red!"

Red was lying on the couch, trying to slow down his heart as he took several deep breaths from exhaustion. His face was starting to match his name, and he felt sticky from how much he was sweating.

The second his mother left, Ash and Gary had gotten an insane burst of energy. Red found himself running all over the house as the two toddlers fought and nearly broke things from races they were having. And then the complaining had started…The godforsaken complaining…

At the end of his wits, Red turned on the television and put in a tape of last year's League Tournament, which he had recorded. Thankfully, Ash and Gary were just as eager to have their own Pokémon as he and Green were, so the two had sat down and were cheering for the people who had their favorite type of Pokémon.

Red glanced at the clock on the wall. Surely his mother would be home any minute now…

…Thirty minutes…It had only been half an hour since she left…

Red startled the younger boys as he let out a loud groan and smothered his face with a cushion. Part of him made a mental note to apologize to his mother for all the trouble he and Green surely caused when they were that young…Make that, still caused…

The other part of him was dead tired though.

* * *

Red slowly opened his eyes, only to be met with the cushion that was still on his face. He pushed it off as he sat up and looked around groggily. Had he fallen asleep?

Considering that the clock said that it was a few minutes past four, that was a yes.

Red looked at the television, which was now playing the final round of the League Tournament. He smiled as he looked towards where Ash and Gary had been sitting, wondering who was rooting for who.

…They weren't there…

Red got up from the couch and looked around the room. Ash and Gary didn't seem to be anywhere in sight. A bad feeling was building up in the pit of his stomach. Red left the living room, thinking that the two had probably gone upstairs to play with the game system in Red's bedroom, which he had constantly tried to keep them away from.

That idea shattered as Red saw that the front door was wide open.

Red didn't even bother to put on his shoes, instead running outside and glancing around in a panic. He knew how energetic Ash and Gary were, so those two could have gotten rather far from the house in the time he was asleep.

He cursed himself out mentally as he ran around, looking in bushes and over fences. How could he go and fall asleep when his mother had put him in charge of watching the toddlers? What was she going to say if he couldn't find them? What would everyone else say if they got back and the boys weren't found?

But that was only a small concern to Red. Most of his concern was on the safety of Ash and Gary. Despite how troublesome those two were, Red did like them.

Despite how much he was like his brother, Gary really enjoyed being with Red. And Red liked to use that fact to tease Green whenever he was bothering him a bit too much.

As for Ash, after Mr. Ketchum's funeral, Red found himself asking his mom to take him to the Ketchum house quite a lot. His mother had been very surprised, since Red had never shown much interest in other families, besides the Oak family.

Red hadn't understood it either. It was almost as though, after he had comforted the crying baby, he felt as though he owed it to Ash to continue to check on him. To make sure he really would be okay.

Sure, once Ash was old enough to start babbling up a storm and started zipping around like a Rattata, Red started to somewhat regret his decision to look after the boy.

But when Mrs. Ketchum thanked Red and told him how much Ash looked up to him, Red found that he really grew to like that kid.

But now they were both missing.

"Hey, Red!"

Red fought hard not to glare at Mr. Johnson, a rather old fisherman who lived down the road from him. Instead, he waved stiffly before he dove headfirst into a row of bushes.

"You know, Red," Mr. Johnson went on, apparently not finding the boy's actions odd at all, "I wish you and Green were more like Ash and Gary. You two never seemed interested in fishing. But when I was talking to those little ones a couple minutes ago, they were hanging on my every word."

Red detangled himself from the bushes, not caring how badly they scratched his arms and face. He stared at Mr. Johnson in shock, wondering if he had heard right.

"Yeah, that pool of water is too shallow for fishing with a rod," Mr. Johnson continued, "But they were all for hand fishing -"

Red ran off before Mr. Johnson could finish what he was saying. Within minutes, he reached the shallow pool of water that was just to the south of Mrs. Ketchum's house. The water was no more than a few inches deep, a perfect depth for little kids to play in and home to the local Poliwag until they evolved into Poliwhirl and headed out to the ocean.

Red quickly scanned the pool and then, letting out the breath he had been unconsciously holding, he spotted them.

Ash and Gary were in the water, being carefully watched over and taught hand fishing by a woman who Red recognized as Mr. Johnson's daughter.

"I missed!" Ash said with a pout.

"This is hard…" Gary grumbled.

"C'mon, you two, you're getting better!" Ms. Johnson encouraged, "You nearly caught that Poliwag before."

Ash looked behind him and saw Red making his way over to the group.

"Hi, Red!" he greeted with a wave.

"We're hand fishing!" Gary informed him with a smile.

Unlike the younger boys, Ms. Johnson could feel the anger radiating off of Red.

"Boys, did you two tell Red that you were coming here?" she asked them.

Ash and Gary looked at each other before glancing over at Ms. Johnson and Red sheepishly.

"Oops…" they said together.

Red stepped into the water and stopped right in front of the two boys, neither of whom seemed to get that they did anything wrong, considering that both were going on about the hand fishing they did. Then…

"Ow!"

Ash and Gary let out a yell as Red reached down to both of them and pulled their ears, not too hard but hard enough that they got the point. The kids looked up at Red's angry face, both holding their ears.

"You're mad?" Gary asked, his voice quieter than usual.

Red nodded briskly, narrowing his eyes at the pair.

"You shouldn't have run off," Red scolded them in a soft but incredibly firm tone, something he had learned from when his mother told him off.

Both boys seemed to suddenly realize that they did something wrong, considering that they very rarely heard Red say something aloud.

"S-sorry," Ash mumbled, looking a little teary-eyed at having someone he admired so much mad at him.

After a moment, Red placed a hand on each boy's head. Truth be told, he felt way too relieved at finding them to stay mad at them.

"Let's go back," he said as he grabbed their hands.

* * *

"Red, I'm home!"

Red glanced over to where his mother stood. After drying up the toddlers, he, Ash, and Gary grabbed some snacks and decided to watch the end of the tape of the tournament. Much to Ash's disappointment and Gary's glee, the guy Ash was rooting for lost.

"You see?" Red's mother said with a smile as Red got up, "I knew you could handle things, Red. This shows how well you'll do when you get your own Pokémon."

Red smiled, hoping his mother didn't know how forced it looked. If the day's events were a sign of things to come, then Red wondered if being a trainer was really worth it…

"Ash, Gary, your families are back," his mother told the younger boys, "I'll drop you two off."

"It was fun!" Ash exclaimed happily as Gary let out a tired yawn, "We did lots of fun stuff!"

"Hey, if you two had so much fun, maybe you can hang out with Red more often."

Red opened his mouth, more than ready to object after what happened before. But, when he saw how hopeful Ash looked, he just couldn't bring himself to say it.

And so, against his better judgment, Red nodded, causing Ash to let out a cheer, which led Gary to complain he was too loud.

"Oh, Red, what's with those scratches?" his mother asked, leaning in close to his face.

"Oh! Red! Can we hand fish again?" Ash asked.

"…Hand fishing?" his mother repeated.

Maybe Red shouldn't have comforted that crying kid three years ago after all…

* * *

And so, we're done with a much longer chapter than yesterday. This one was more humorous and involved Gary as much as Ash. And poor Red. He can't be stoic and super cool all the time, can he?

And c'mon, if a ten year old is old enough to go out into the world and raise super powered monsters, then it's just as reasonable that a nine year old is old enough to babysit on his own in this world, though Red didn't have the best experience.

I hope you liked this chapter! Please keep reading and reviewing! Thanks!


	3. The Greatest Champion

Hey there! So we're back for yet another chapter. A warning: don't get used to me updating daily. I just happen to have a bunch of free time and a bunch of ideas, so I can do it right now. Plus, I'm still waiting to get the Finding Nemo DVD from my library so I can update my other story as well. Not that I won't try to update as often as possible.

Thank you to those of you who left a review! I really appreciate it! Also, adding on from yesterday, along with the shiny Paras I got, I also captured that shiny red Gyarados from SoulSilver and I got that shiny Gible and shiny Haxorus that they offer you in Black 2. But the Paras was the only one I got through a random encounter and not a special event in the game. Oh, I have another question for all of you readers. These questions are just for curiosity's sake, so you don't have to answer, but it's fun to see your opinions.

Which Pokémon game do you like the best and why?

Personally, Pokémon Black just beat out SoulSilver as my favorite game. But that's because I really enjoyed the storyline of Pokémon Black. I mean, the game brought up a very interesting issue and the way it was handled was wonderful, especially since they showed that Team Plasma wasn't made up of only bad guys who like to steal. The Pokémon were pretty unique and I loved the different Gyms.

So that's my answer! Now, let's get into the story!

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon in the slightest!

* * *

It was seven o' clock in the morning. Beginning trainers didn't have to be at the lab until eight, but Red was already dressed, packed, and ready to head out.

The ten year old adjusted his baseball cap and then went through the contents of his backpack, making sure one last time that he had remembered to pack everything he would need for the journey to come. Though he appeared very calm as he went through his inventory, if one looked closely one could see his hands trembling and the bead of sweat trailing down his face.

Red had never felt more nervous, or excited, in his life.

The day he had been waiting years for was finally here. He could finally pick out his own Pokémon and see the world. He could catch other cool types and raise them. He would finally be able to see just what the world was like for a Pokémon trainer…

After confirming that he had all he needed, Red put on his backpack. He looked around his bedroom one final time. The books were sitting neatly in the bookcase. He had made his bed, mostly so that he wouldn't get an angry phone call from his mother down the road about how she wasn't his maid. He smirked at the various Pokémon figurines on his desk near his computer, memories of when he would pretend they were real and imagine battles flowing through his mind. Finally, he glanced at the television set, which was showing replays of the Elite Challenge from last night. After winning the local conference, the winner was qualified to head over to the Elite Coliseum a week after the League Tournament, where he/she could take on the Elite Four and, if victorious, the current Champion for the chance of getting the title. After all, it was one thing to be a League Champion…

It was another thing to be the one and only regional Champion.

"And what an astonishing victory!" the announcer shouted above the roaring crowd, "I'll tell you, if a battle like this doesn't make kids dream of aiming for the top, I don't know what will!"

Red snorted at that, wondering if that announcer had ever met a kid like him. Because Red certainly didn't dream of becoming a Champion.

He loved the idea of battling of course, and he especially loved the idea of winning. He wanted to beat the Gym Leaders and any other trainer he ran across. He wanted to take part in the League Tournament, for sure, and do his very best.

But Red wasn't striving to become a Champion. If he became one, that would be amazing, but it wasn't his goal. Unlike Green, or any average trainer for that matter, Red didn't have a set goal. That fact led to some teasing from Green and strange looks from a few others, but Red just didn't feel strongly one way or the other about stuff like that.

He just wanted to battle and be friends with Pokémon.

* * *

"Well, look who's here bright and early."

Red looked up from the bench he sat on and smiled a little sheepishly at Professor Oak. He knew how silly it must look to the older man for him to be sitting outside the lab a full half an hour before anyone was expected to show up.

"What I would give for Green to be able to get up in the morning like you can," Professor Oak sighed as he unlocked the door to the lab, "I think Daisy only just got him out of bed when I left."

Red made a mental note of that. Surely he could use that information to his advantage if Green ever bugged him too much, as he was sure to do in the future.

"Well, to reward you for being so early, I don't see the harm in allowing you to pick your starter first," the Professor told him.

The boy nodded and stepped into the lab, only to be greeted by a familiar face.

"Pika!"

Red let out a soft chuckle as the happy Pikachu jumped into his arms. He held the small creature close as it nuzzled his face affectionately.

This Pikachu had been found just outside Pallet Town six months earlier, covered in injuries that looked as though they came from a fierce battle with an Arbok. Since there wasn't a Pokémon Center in Pallet Town, the Pikachu was brought to Professor Oak's lab. It was difficult to treat the injured Pokémon, since it was frightened and quite mistrustful of humans.

Eventually, Professor Oak and his assistants were able to calm the Pokémon down enough to start treatment. Due to the severity of the injuries, Pikachu would have to stay in the lab for some time. Things were made more difficult since it still didn't trust humans.

And then Red happened to stop by the lab a few days after Pikachu was found.

The young boy was immediately taken by the rare Pokémon, although Pikachu didn't seem to share the sentiment by how its cheeks were sparking whenever Red tried to pet it. It was the same routine for two weeks, in which Red would come in and try to play with Pikachu while Pikachu warned the kid to stay away.

No was quite sure when things changed…All anyone knew was that the professor entered the lab to find Red petting a perfectly calm Pikachu on its head.

The people's astonishment, the once fearful Pokémon was soon found playing with Red on a near daily basis. It would eat with him, climb up on his head, and, with Red's guidance, slowly became more comfortable with other humans as well.

In fact, Pikachu became so attached to the young boy that, when it was finally well enough to be released into the wild, it simply refused to go. So the Pikachu became a permanent resident of the lab, much to Red's joy.

"Nice to see you and Pikachu getting along as well as ever," Professor Oak laughed as he led Red to a table where three Pokéballs sat, "Alright, Red, so your choices are the energetic Charmander, the bubbly Squirtle, or the calm Bulbasaur. What will it be?"

Red's smile became somewhat halfhearted as he looked at the three Pokéballs on the table. Professor Oak noticed the boy's shoulders drooping a little.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

With a deep breath for courage, Red gestured to Pikachu, which was sitting on his shoulder. He looked at the professor with a hopeful expression.

"Ah, I see," the professor said, "You want to take Pikachu."

Pikachu let out an excited sound as it rubbed its cheek against Red's. It was obvious Pikachu wanted to go along with the young trainer as well.

"Well, it's a bit unusual," Professor Oak told them, "Most begin their journey with one of the starters…But…I don't see any harm in you taking Pikachu."

Red's face brightened as Pikachu voiced its happiness at the decision.

"Now, I should warn you," Professor Oak began as he handed Red a Pokéball for Pikachu, which the boy pocketed as he saw no need for keeping his new partner in its Pokéball, "Just because you two are friends, that doesn't mean things will be easy. Pikachu are harder to train than the usual starters after all."

Red was well aware of this fact as Professor Oak handed him a Pokédex to record information on Pokémon he encountered, whether he recognized those Pokémon or not.

"Man, to think I got here after you…"

Red suppressed a grimace as he turned around to greet the owner of that familiar voice. Green walked up to where Red and the professor were standing, smirking at his rival.

"Green, how nice to see you awake," Professor Oak said amusedly.

"Sorry, Gramps," Green muttered, "Well, I'm here now. You make your choice yet, Red?"

Red pointed to the Pikachu on his shoulder. Green looked a bit surprised at that before quickly recovering.

"Ah, that's just like you to be such a rebel, Poker Face," Green said teasingly.

Despite his tone, Red noticed the calculating look in Green's eyes as he looked at Pikachu. Sure, he acted too smug for his own good, but that didn't mean the guy wasn't smart. He was raised by the Pokémon Professor after all. And Red had known Green long enough to see that he was thinking about all the advantages and disadvantages Pikachu would bring Red before choosing his own starter.

"Well, I think this little guy will do nicely," Green declared as he picked up the Pokéball containing Bulbasaur, "Don't you agree, Red?"

Red stared back at his rival blankly as Professor Oak handed Green a Pokédex. He knew what was coming.

"So, how's a battle sound to you, Red?"

* * *

Red wished he had had a camera to forever capture the look on Green's face when Pikachu took down his Bulbasaur. The loss didn't keep his rival down for long. Green simply warned Red that he would be much stronger next time, and that Red better make the effort to be just as strong. After all, Green wanted a worthy opponent to challenge him in the League Tournament.

Red and his Pikachu had left soon after Green had. He wanted to show his mother his new partner and say farewell one more time before setting out on his journey. He felt a little worried about how his mother would fare, living in the house all by herself, but Red knew that Mrs. Ketchum would keep her company.

Speaking of the Ketchums…

Red paused in front of Mrs. Ketchum's house and let out a sigh. He had been trying to avoid this moment for as long as he could.

He had to tell Ash he was off.

Although Ash had always seemed so eager for Red to go on his journey so that he would tell him of all the adventures he had and Pokémon he had seen, the closer Red got to the day of his journey, the more upset the kid became. It all came to a head just yesterday, when Red and his mother had come over to the Ketchum residence. The second Ash saw Red he ran upstairs and locked himself in his room, refusing to come out no matter what anyone said.

Red knocked on the door, knowing there was no way he could leave without settling things between him and Ash.

"Oh, Red, it's good to see you!" Mrs. Ketchum greeted warmly, "I can't believe you're already old enough to be a trainer. In six years, Ash will be going on his own journey."

After introducing his Pikachu to Mrs. Ketchum, Red pointed towards the stairs.

"Yes, Ash is up in his room," she said with a small frown, "He woke up early and hasn't stopped pouting. You're welcome to try and talk to him though."

Red nodded and went up to Ash's room. Noticing the door was ajar, he went in without knocking and almost laughed at the sight before him.

Ash was sitting cross-legged on his bed clutching a stuffed Charmander in his arms. Like Mrs. Ketchum had said, there was a pout on his face. The four year old was watching the same program Red had been watching just a little while ago.

When Red coughed to make his presence known, Ash looked at him briefly before turning back to the television. Red rolled his eyes before going over to the boy and sitting beside him on the bed. Pikachu jumped off his shoulder and settled itself between the pair. Red noticed that Ash was trying _very _hard to ignore that there was a real Pokémon next to him.

"I thought Pikachu wasn't a starter," Ash mumbled, unable to ignore the cute creature anymore.

Red shrugged his shoulders as Ash carefully reached out to pet Pikachu, setting aside his stuffed toy.

"Pika…" it cooed as Ash pat the top of its head, making Ash giggle.

"It's cute," he said with smile.

Red scratched Pikachu behind the ear, something it liked very much. He then motioned for Ash to try the same thing. Ash was surprised when, as he mimicked Red's action, Pikachu jumped into Ash's lap.

"Does it like me?" he asked Red, who smiled in return, "Cool…"

After some more petting, Pikachu jumped off Ash's lap and curled up on the bed, obviously aware that Red and Ash needed to talk about something. Ash's grin faded as he looked over at Red.

"Mommy said to say sorry for last night," he whispered, "Sorry."

Red nodded that he accepted the apology, but that didn't seem to make Ash feel any better.

"You're going to go today, right?" Ash asked. When Red nodded, the boy's shoulders dropped, "But what about when me and Gary fight?"

It was a routine that they had perfected to an art. Ash and Gary would have some kind of challenge or argument. Red would side with Ash, Green with Gary. And then, chaos would ensue. Red was kind of disappointed that Ash and Gary's relationship seemed to be going down the same route as his and Green's, but there was no stopping a rivalry he supposed.

Red put a comforting hand on Ash's shoulder and gave him a look that told him that he would be fine. That he needed to try and handle these disagreements on his own, since neither he nor Green would be around to back the younger boys up anymore.

Ash looked over to the television, where they replayed the battle between the regional Champion and the challenger.

"The guy I rooted for lost," Ash told Red, "They always lose…"

Red couldn't help but realize how true that was. Whenever the League Tournament or Elite Challenge came around, Ash always managed to root for the people who were going to lose. It had gotten to the point that some of the older men in town asked Ash who he was supporting so that they could make bets about the outcome of matches.

"Red, you'll be doing that too, right?" Ash asked, "…Then, I'll root for Green."

To say Red was shocked by that was a bit of an understatement. But Ash didn't notice, instead feeling confident with his plan.

"Yeah, cause the guys I cheer for always lose! You and Green will be in the last round, so I'll cheer for Green. And then you'll be the League Champion, Red!"

Red should've felt rather touched that Ash had so much faith that he would make it to the final round of the League Tournament when he hadn't even begun his journey yet. That he wanted to use his supposed bad luck to help Red win. But there was just one problem.

Ash startled when Red suddenly stood up and stepped in front of him. Red put his hands on the younger boy's shoulders and shook his head.

"…No?" Ash guessed that's what Red was saying, having slowly gotten better and reading his silent cues, "You don't want me to root for Green?"

No, Red didn't want that at all. It didn't matter if the guys Ash rooted for always lost. Red did not want him rooting for Green.

Whether this was purely due to the rivalry between Red and Green or due to Red not liking the idea of Ash cheering on someone other than him, he wasn't too sure…

"But you'll lose if I cheer for you!" Ash insisted.

Red raised an eyebrow at Ash. The younger boy paused as he got the message that small action gave. Did Ash doubt Red's ability to win?

"No, you'll win," he stated. He looked at Red with determined eyes, "You'll definitely win, Red! You'll be the Champion!"

Red stared at him for a moment, just a moment, before nodding confidently.

"You'll be a Champion and beat all kinds of people!" Ash continued, tears starting to form in his eyes as he talked, "And you'll see all sorts of places! A-and catch lots of P-Pokémon…And you'll call, right? You'll call and tell me all about it! And you'll come visit us a lot …P-promise?"

Red placed a hand on Ash's head and ruffled his hair affectionately as Pikachu jumped onto Red's shoulder.

"I promise."

* * *

Being a trainer was even tougher than Red had imagined. He had to battle all sorts of trainers, and avoid others when his Pokémon weren't feeling good. He had to keep track of who in his party were well enough to take on a challenge and make sure their condition didn't get too bad. He needed to run away from wild Pokémon that showed up when his team wasn't well. He had to search for challenges and new Pokémon in all sorts of terrain. He needed to take on the different Gym Leaders, often when he was at a disadvantage. Then there was Green, who Red was sure had the worst timing in history with his challenges, not that he ever beat Red, though he had come close at times.

He, through an annoying series of events, found himself at the forefront of the conflict with Team Rocket. He would constantly run into them and have to take them out. And he would rather not remember the absolutely exhausting and aggravating events at Silph Co., which led in Giovanni escaping and, thanks to the fact that Giovanni had been disguised, no one believed Red about the identity of the leader of Team Rocket. Challenging that smug Giovanni for his final badge, knowing that he was the only one who knew of the man's true loyalties, was in the top five for most annoying days of Red's life.

Most importantly, Red needed to learn from his mistakes whenever he lost and not let those losses hold him back.

But he was having the time of his life.

As he trained and traveled, he picked up quite the team. A Squirtle that started following him after he shared some food with it. A Charmander that had battled against his Pikachu and put up quite a challenge. A Bulbasaur that got used to him after he accidently encroached on its territory during a thunderstorm. A Snorlax that he had saved from an assault by some Team Rocket grunts. And a Lapras that had been given to him as a gift when he was clearing Silph Co. of Team Rocket.

He raised them with love and made sure they were strong…

* * *

"Ladies and gentlemen, I can honestly say, I've never seen anything like that in my life!"

It had been just over a year since he had set out. The now eleven year old Red had made it to the final round of the Indigo Conference. All that was left was to beat his final opponent.

His lifelong rival, Green Oak.

It had been one of the most nail bitingly close battles in the history of the League. It had taken forever for Red and Green to finally get down to their final Pokémon. For Green, it was his trusty and sturdy Venasaur. And for Red, it was his quick and ever loyal Pikachu. Red had a double disadvantage, with Venasaur being resistant to Electricity and Pikachu being tired from battling Green's Gyarados.

But the rivals knew that, if they ever faced each other in the conference, they had to put their starters against each other. It was simply a matter of principle between them.

Red had never felt his heart pound so hard in his life as the battle had raged on. He used Pikachu's speed to his advantage as often as possible and slowly whittled away at the much larger Pokémon's health. After one final attack from both sides, both Pokémon were shaking, struggling to remain standing. He wiped the sweat from his brow as he waited to see the results.

With a loud crash, Green's Venasaur fell to the ground.

"Venasaur is unable to battle!" the referee shouted, "Pikachu is the winner! The victory goes to Red from Pallet Town!"

"And there you have it, folks!" the announcer yelled as the crowd sat in silence, stunned by how amazing the battle was, "Let's hear it for the new League Champion, RED!

And with that, the crowd let out ear shattering applause and shouts. Red felt himself shaking, so he put his hands to his knees to steady himself.

He had won…He was the League Champion…

Red rushed forward and scooped up Pikachu, hugging his friend close. Pikachu let out a tired but happy noise at the victory. Red looked over to where Green stood in shock. With a sigh, his rival stepped forward and patted the tired Venasaur.

"You did your best, buddy," Green said with a grin as he returned the Pokémon to its ball. He then went over and held his hand out to Red, "Well, well, well…Who knew you had it in you, Poker Face?"

Red smiled softly as he shook Green's hand. He then searched the crowd until he spotted the ones he was looking for.

There was his mother, crying tears of joy. The Oak family was cheering for him and Green both. Mrs. Ketchum was applauding alongside them.

Ash was standing on his seat, cheering and waving at Red, his eyes twinkling with admiration and awe. Red raised a hand and waved back, hoping Ash realized that his luck concerning who he rooted for wasn't so bad after all.

"I'm taking the Elite Challenge," Red said so softly that Green almost didn't hear him over the crowd.

"Naturally," Green replied, "But I'd give it a couple years before-"

"No, I'll face them next week."

Green was staring at Red as though he'd never seen him before.

"Red, no eleven year old challenges the Elite Four!" he exclaimed, "Those guys are really tough. Most people who win the Indigo Conference are much older than us and even they have trouble with them!"

But Red didn't care. As he looked at how happy Ash was, Red knew exactly what he would do. He would take a break for a couple of days and then start preparing his team for the Elite Challenge. He was going to take it next week and become the Champion of the Kanto region, making history as the youngest to hold the title. And he would do his best not to lose that title either.

Because, for Ash, for that little kid who was looking at him like he was a hero, nothing less than being the _greatest_ Champion would suffice.

And, when years passed and Ash Ketchum became old enough to start his journey, receiving a Pikachu of his own to start with, Red became known as just that.

* * *

And done! This chapter is much longer than the other two, huh? Well, I didn't want to divide it up into two chapters, so I was fitting in as much as I could here. And wow, Red had three whole lines in this chapter! A new record! Trust me, there are a couple of future chapters that'll blow this record out of the water. I make reference to things that may confuse you, such as the whole thing with Giovanni and the Elite Challenge. Don't worry, I'll explain those things in better detail later on. I do have a couple chapters in mind in order to explain how things work in this universe (although the thing with the Elite Challenge won't necessarily take place in _this_ universe).

For my story, I made Red the guy who likes battling but didn't have a set ambition in mind. Meaning, if he became Champion that would've been cool but it wasn't like he was dreaming of becoming one. It was for Ash's sake that he decided to actually aim for being the League Champion. And then, as time passed, Red decided to become the regional Champion, the greatest one in Kanto history. Because, like I said before, he only really cares for a small number of people. And if one of those people looks up to him, then he wants to be someone worthy of that praise.

Alright, so starting in the next chapter, I'll be jumping around. These three chapters were supposed to set up the relationship between Ash and Red. Not that we won't see more from before they became trainers. But most will take place with Ash as a trainer and Red as the teenage Champion (so when they are 10 and 16 respectively).

Thanks for reading and please keep reviewing! I'll see you guys in the next chapter!


	4. Knowing A Celebrity

And we're back! So now we are into the main story, which will basically be jumping around time, not chronological as the previous three chapters were. Like I mentioned before, there will also be a couple of AU chapters, and I plan on a couple chapters leaning more towards parody. But I hope you all stick around for the ride!

Oh, a message for the reviewer named BatonPassIsBroke. Thank you very much for your kind words! Concerning your comments about the battles, I would love to be able to write out detailed battles. Unfortunately, I am terrible at writing any kind of fight scenes, so I'm afraid that any battle I write won't do the scene justice. This story mostly focuses on Ash and Red's relationship more than it does battling, so there may not be that many battles. But, if I ever have a chapter where a battle is necessary, I'll do my best to write it out well! P.S., I also love Charizard. The whole Charmander line actually. They've been my favorite of the original group since I was little.

And to my readers, the question I asked yesterday is still in effect! I'd really like to know what your opinions are, please!

You'll probably notice I refer to Ash's Pikachu as a boy. That's because the Best Wishes series confirmed that Pikachu was a boy. I referred to Red's Pikachu as "it" because we don't know its gender. Well, let's dive in, shall we?

Disclaimer: Pokémon is not mine!

* * *

"What's going on?"

It was a day after the Princess Festival, which Misty had won handily. Ash and his friends had meant to leave the city, Ash and Brock especially wanting to escape after the exhausting shopping spree Misty had put them through. However, during the previous afternoon, a large bunch of trainers showed up in the city.

Ash, not wanting to pass up a chance of challenging the trainers, insisted that they stay a little longer so he could battle the trainers. After facing all the ones he could, the three had gone to sleep, planning to leave the next morning. However, more trainers had showed up overnight, much to the young Pokémon Master-in-the-making's delight. Ash and his Pokémon worked hard during the battles to get stronger, although Ash wished that his recently evolved Charizard was as agreeable as the other members of the team.

He was in the process of healing up his Pokémon after facing a guy with a particularly tough Marowak, when the trio heard the excited babble of a large crowd just outside the Pokémon Center.

"Sounds like something big is happening," Misty stated as Togepi chirped in her arms.

"Let's check it out," Brock said as Ash received his Pokémon back from Nurse Joy.

The three stepped outside and gaped at the sheer size of the crowd filling the streets. Ash blanched as he saw that there were just as many girls as guys, while Brock was making goo-goo eyes at all of the ladies.

"M-Misty," Ash stuttered as he glanced over at the redhead, "Tell me this Princess Festival isn't still going on."

That statement was enough to snap Brock out of his fantasies and cringe alongside Ash. Even Pikachu seemed a bit put out by the idea as he let out a small groan from where he sat on Ash's shoulder.

"Of course not," Misty replied, adding with a growl, "And just what was so bad about the festival?"

"Nothing!" the boys answered in unison.

Taking the initiative, Misty walked up to a member of the crowd and tapped her on the shoulder.

"Excuse me, but what's all this about?" Misty asked the woman.

"Haven't you guys heard?" the woman asked the trio in surprise, "They say the Champion is coming to this city today! I can't wait to see him!"

"_Red's_ _coming here_?" Misty and Brock exclaimed.

The regional Champion, Red, was one of the most famous Champions in the Pokémon world, especially popular in his native Kanto. However, after his rise to fame years ago, he was rarely seen by the public, instead spending much of his time on Mt. Silver, which was located between Kanto and the nearby Johto region, though officially counting as Johto territory. It was no wonder the city was packed.

A chance to see the famed Champion was an opportunity one shouldn't pass up!

Ash, upon hearing Red's name, perked up, a wide smile forming on his face. Neither of his companions noticed this though, although Pikachu glanced curiously at his trainer's expression.

"Whoa, to think that Red would actually be coming here," Misty said in awe.

"Man, hearing that name takes me back," Brock added, a nostalgic grin on his face.

"Wait, do you two know Red?" Ash asked.

"Sort of," Misty and Brock said simultaneously.

"My father was in charge of the Pewter Gym when Red showed up," Brock began to explain, "My siblings and I were watching the match so excitedly. We were so sure that Red would lose."

"Really?" Ash interjected.

"Yeah, because he only had that Pikachu of his at the time," Brock continued, "It was certainly a long match, and he used his Pikachu's speed to his full advantage. I couldn't remember the last time I saw a beginning trainer use strategy so effectively, especially at such a disadvantage."

"Unlike Ash, I'm sure Red didn't need the sprinklers going off to win," Misty teased.

"Hey!" Ash shouted, "Pikachu would've won without that, right buddy?"

"Pika!" the electric mouse cried, trying to mask that he wasn't as confident as Ash about that match.

"Calm down, you guys," Brock said, "Red eventually tired out Dad's Pokémon and won the match. I've gotta admit, seeing Ash and Pikachu years later made me think I was seeing double."

"As for me, I also first saw Red when he challenged the Cerulean Gym," Misty said, "That was back when my sisters were competent Gym Leaders. When he showed up with that Pikachu and challenged Daisy, I thought he was going to win in a snap…But he didn't even _use_ Pikachu!"

"Didn't want it to be too easy, probably," Brock suggested.

"That's what I thought," Misty said, not realizing that Ash was nodding at what Brock said as well, "He used his own Water type, a cute little Squirtle. I thought the battle would drag on longer than it did, but what a victory!"

Ash let out a chuckle as Misty and Brock went back and forth describing Red's battles at their Gyms. He remembered when Red would call his house after he won and describe the battles to him, though taking care not to explain too much so that Ash would face some surprises. It was interesting to hear those stories from another perspective.

"I definitely want to see how much Red's grown since then," Brock stated.

"Me too!" Misty agreed excitedly, "I haven't seen him since I watched him take on the Elite Challenge five years ago."

Both of them then looked at Ash with curious expressions, prompting the ten year old to ask what they were staring at him for.

"It's just that I thought you would look more excited," Brock explained, "I mean, this is your chance to see the Kanto Champion. Most people would be jumping at the idea."

"Yeah, and don't get any funny ideas, Ash!" Misty warned, "Red didn't get his title doing nothing. I don't want you challenging him and getting an embarrassing beat down."

"Well, actually-" Ash began to explain, only to be interrupted by the crowd's sudden cheer.

"He must be here!" Misty shouted.

The three friends ran off, trying to find a place where they could best see the Champion. With some effort, they managed to find a decent spot, even if it was at the back of the crowd. They stood atop a bench in order to see above the crowd, although Ash could only just see since he was a few inches shorter than Misty and Brock. Even Pikachu had a nice vantage point, taking a seat atop his trainer's head.

Then, he arrived.

Red was a tall and lean young man. His red and white baseball cap, which he had had since he was very young, sat neatly atop his head. He wore his signature outfit: a red and white vest over a black t-shirt, blue jeans, and sneakers.

The teenager paused when he saw the huge crowd awaiting him in the city. Ash noticed a brief irritated look in Red's eyes before a blank expression came across his face. The Champion adjusted his backpack before walking on, trying to ignore the people yelling all around him, asking for autographs, battles, and much more.

The Pikachu that sat on Red's shoulder, however, seemed to have no problem with the attention. It waved to the crowd with a large smile on its face.

"Wow!" Misty sighed, her cheeks a little pink, "He's grown up quite a bit from back then."

"I can only imagine how strong he is now," Brock added, "What I would give to see him in action…"

"Oh, if only we could meet him…"

"You guys really want to meet Red?" Ash asked his friends.

When they nodded, Ash jumped off the bench and ran off. After sharing a look, Misty and Brock went after him. After a while, they spotted Ash and stopped dead in their tracks.

"_Ash Ketchum, what are you doing_?" Misty shrieked as she saw Ash climbing a lamp post.

"I'll get Red's attention!" Ash replied, "Hang on tight, Pikachu."

Pikachu shook his head as Ash climbed up the lamp post, getting higher and higher above the crowd.

"He really _is_ just like a little Mankey…" Brock groaned.

Ash stopped climbing once he felt a he had gone up high enough.

"This should be good," he said to himself, "Cover your ears, Pikachu."

As Pikachu did what Ash ordered, Ash let out a rather loud shout.

"RED!"

A few members of the crowd turned to gaze up at the boy, but Red didn't seem to hear him above the roar of the audience.

"Hey, Red!" Ash continued shouting as loud as he could, "Red! Over here!"

"Does he really think Red will just waltz over here?" Brock wondered, partially amused by Ash's antics.

"He is _so_ embarrassing," Misty muttered, putting a hand over her eyes as members of the crowd pointed and laughed at Ash.

While Red didn't hear Ash's shouts, it seemed that his Pikachu did. The Pokémon perked its ears up and searched for the source of that familiar voice. When it spotted Ash on the lamp post, Pikachu pat Red's cheek. He looked at the Pokémon, who pointed in Ash's direction.

When Red looked over at where the Pikachu was pointing, Misty and Brock saw the teenager's eyes widen considerably.

"He actually got his attention," Misty said in shock.

"Alright, it worked!" Ash cried happily as Red started to make his way over.

"Red's really coming over here," Brock stated in disbelief as Ash slid down from the lamp post and landed on the ground.

The crowd was still cheering as it parted just a little to let Red through, although that didn't stop people from trying to touch Red without his consent. His Pikachu sparked its cheeks as a warning to the others not to try anything funny.

Red paused just in front of Ash. Misty and Brock couldn't help but stare at the height difference between them, with Ash only coming up to just a couple of inches below Red's shoulders. It really added to the intimidating aura the Champion was giving off. They were worried that Ash's actions might have gotten on Red's nerves.

But Ash didn't appear aware of any of that. As his Pikachu and Red's called out to each other brightly, Ash beamed at the Champion.

"Hey, Red!" Ash greeted happily, "What's-OW!"

Misty and Brock's jaws dropped as Red reached out and bonked Ash's head without warning.

* * *

After Red had hit Ash over the head, just hard enough for Ash to let out that shout but nothing too bad, he had grabbed the boy's wrist and started to pull him away. As they ran, Ash called for a girl with red hair and a man about his age to hurry up and follow.

The two, who Red supposed were Ash's companions, did their best to keep up as Red pulled Ash down several twisting alleyways, several members of the crowd giving chase. After a while, the group managed to elude the rabid fans. Red then took them into a very small, almost unnoticeable, coffee shop. The owner of the shop greeted Red, having seen him in the shop a few times before.

Red liked the shop since it was so hidden that no one would notice it. He had run across it by accident back when he was still a trainer collecting badges. He liked the owner very much, as well as the atmosphere of the shop. A year after he became Champion, he managed to stumble across the shop again while he was trying to escape from some overly eager fans. After learning that he could hide out and relax in the shop, and sampling the delicious coffee, Red mentally marked this place as one of his very few safe havens.

The four sat at a table, with Ash sitting next to Red and Ash's friends sitting across from them. The shop owner brought out a sweet smelling coffee, Red's usual, and asked for the others' orders. After the redhead and the spiky haired guy ordered different types of coffee, Red covered Ash's mouth before he ordered. He gave a look to the shop owner. Understanding, the owner gave the other two their coffee and Ash some juice.

The last thing Red wanted was Ash hyped up on caffeine…

Red noticed Ash's companions eyeing him and Ash warily, while his and Ash's Pikachu, and the redhead's Togepi, drank their own juice and played on the floor nearby. Ash rubbed his head as he frowned at Red.

"Why'd you hit me?" he asked.

Red gave Ash a very stern look, which he had learned from his mother and Mrs. Ketchum, among other things. A look that Red had slowly perfected over the years. Ash's frown deepened at that.

"Don't look at me like that! I'm a good climber, I wouldn't have fallen."

Red's eyes narrowed at Ash's words.

"C'mon, I've climbed higher than that and been okay!" Ash insisted.

A cough interrupted the pair. Ash's companions were reminding them of their presence. Red looked at them, keeping his expression mostly blank as he concentrated on trying to place their faces. He was so sure he had seen the pair somewhere before. He remembered feeling the same way just a couple months earlier, when Red had gone to Vermillion City and seen a picture of them concerning the sinking of the S.S. Anne. Where had he seen them before?

"Oh, right!" Ash said, a smile back on his face, "Guys, I'd like you to meet Red. Red, this is Misty and Brock. They were the Gym Leaders I challenged in Cerulean and Pewter."

"You may not remember us," the girl named Misty said.

"The two of us were young when you arrived at our Gyms," the one called Brock added, "You faced my dad and Misty's sister."

Red nodded at that. Truth be told, he actually did recognize the pair after Ash's introduction. Brock had been the oldest of that huge group of siblings who looked way too alike. He had noticed him because he looked about the same age as Red. And he also recalled Misty as being that little girl who looked a couple years older than Ash. The one that seemed to know much more about water Pokémon than the sister he had challenged.

Red felt a little bad when he saw that the pair seemed a bit uncomfortable by how quiet he was.

"Red doesn't really say much," Ash informed them, "Don't worry about it, guys."

"I'm kind of surprised you two know each other," Brock stated as he looked between the two.

"I've known Red my whole life!" Ash explained. It was times like this that Red was glad the kid was such a talker, "We're both from Pallet Town. He and I used to play together a lot. By the way, how's Green? I haven't seen him in forever."

Red put up a thumbs up. Green was traveling around, doing some more training. He and Red only ever saw each other whenever Green made the effort to climb Mt. Silver to either challenge him, and lose, or brag about Gary.

"That's so cool that you grew up together!" Misty said.

"It'd be cooler if Red would visit more often," Ash muttered, "This is the first time I've seen you since a month before I started my journey."

Red shrugged his shoulders. He couldn't help it. It's not like he didn't want to visit his hometown. He wanted to see his mother, Professor Oak, Daisy, Mrs. Ketchum, and the others way more than he did. He would've liked to have been there when Ash and Gary started their journeys, mostly because Green had said how he had returned home to see off Gary.

But being the youngest to become the Kanto Champion, having received the title at the age of eleven, and being the longest holder of the title now that he was entering the fifth year of his "reign" prevented him from doing so.

It had been kind of bearable the first couple months after he took on the Elite Challenge. His Pikachu loved the limelight well enough, much to Red's amusement. But as more people bugged him about interviews, pictures, autographs, love confessions and so on, the more frustrated he became. Red barely had any time to himself. He couldn't even battle without someone from the media or an overzealous fan showing up.

While training was also a major reason, Red largely chose to spend most of his time at the top of Mt. Silver in order to escape his fame. After all, thanks to the treacherous terrain and strong Pokémon, the only ones who ever made it to the top were tough trainers who wanted to challenge Red, just how he liked it.

But Red didn't like to spend every waking moment up there. He wanted to revisit the places he'd seen and people he'd met during his travels. So, every few months, he left the mountain in order to explore. It usually worked out in that he was able to avoid garnering attention.

But sometimes, like today, things didn't work out in his favor.

"Since you spend so much time on Mt. Silver, we never get to talk," Ash said, "I can't even call you. There's so much stuff I wanted to tell you about."

"So tell me now," Red replied.

Red noticed Misty and Brock stare at him out of the corner of his eye, since it was the first time he talked in front of them.

"…Will you tell me what you've been up to since we last met?" Ash asked hopefully, Misty and Brock also staring at Red, wanting to hear about the adventures of the legendary Champion.

"Deal," Red said, chuckling at Ash's excited face.

Ash got up from his seat and picked up Pikachu, who was making weird faces with Red's Pikachu in order to make Togepi laugh. The ten year old held up the Pokémon proudly to his old friend.

"First things first…This is the Pokémon I started out with, Pikachu!"

* * *

Done! I wanted to end there since we know Ash's story. And you can leave Red's adventures to your imagination. I'll write some adventures later on. As you can see, this chapter was only partly from Red's perspective. For future chapters, the chapters will either be from Ash's perspective, Red's, or a switching perspective like this one. I might have something different for another chapter, if I write it.

As you can see, I'm doing something kind of different by pointing out a lot of the negative aspects of being one of the greatest trainers, especially a Champion. After all, fame isn't always glamorous, as they say. And for Red, it really gets on his nerves at times. I'll be getting even more into this aspect in other chapters, because, even though this story is mostly about Ash and Red's friendship, I want to drive home some other points, such as the idea that being a Champion isn't as great as everyone thinks.

Also, I tried to mesh together the game universe and anime universe with how Misty and Brock have seen Red. And I hoped you guys enjoyed seeing more of Red being a brother/parent figure for Ash.

Please keep reading and reviewing! Also, if you would answer the question from last chapter, I'd like that!


	5. He's Alright

What's this? Am I actually updating two stories on the same day! Well, yes I am! Sorry if I threw some people off by not updating this story yesterday. I was spending most of yesterday writing chapter eleven of my Finding Nemo story. The fans of that story have been waiting patiently since January for the next chapter.

Since I had some time, I also managed to write another chapter for this story too! I had to write this chapter a little differently than how I wanted. This is because I wrote the events of the previous chapter in a way that couldn't work with this chapter like I wanted. Oh well, I think it's fine.

This chapter deals with events that took place before the previous chapter's events. I told you guys that I would be jumping around now. Also, just like with the last chapter, this chapter changes up the canon events a little. The universe this story takes place in will be very similar to the anime universe and somewhat similar to the game universe. But I said that I would be changing things up so that things don't follow canon to the letter

Oh, and I have another question for you guys, but this has more to do with this story. Do you guys like how I have been characterizing Red and Ash so far? I get the feeling I'm writing them differently than most people on the site do. But seriously, what are your opinions on their personalities so far?

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon, but I sort of wish I could live in the Pokémon world…Sigh…

* * *

"Oh, hello there, Red! So, even you couldn't take the storm, huh?"

Red greeted Nurse Joy, who was in charge of the Pokémon Center located at the base of Mt. Silver, with a wave, his Pikachu letting out a happy shout. They didn't worry about being discreet, since no one else was in the center other than a few Pokémon. This Pokémon Center was small and mostly only used by Red or some wild Pokémon, who had become used to the center's presence after realizing they could be healed in it, or the rare, brave trainer who wished to scale the mountain. Anyone else who came to Mt. Silver usually went to Silver Town, located on the opposite side of the mountain and much easier to access.

Red took a seat on one of the comfortable chairs, enjoying the warmth of the center. Pikachu jumped off his trainer's shoulder and took its place right in front of the heater, cooing its content.

Red had climbed down from Mt. Silver after no trainers had shown up to battle him in nearly a month. There was also a snowstorm, harsher than usual, going on. Red and his Pokémon normally didn't mind snow, having gotten used to the tough weather at the top of the mountain. But even they had their limits, with the visibility near zero and it being colder than ever before.

So, after the nightmare of climbing down the mountain on foot since the weather was too bad for Charizard to fly in, Red had stopped by the Pokémon Center to warm up and decide where he would visit.

"You know, Red," Nurse Joy started, "If I was you, I'd love to go somewhere warm and sunny after hanging out at the summit for so long. Ah, what I would give to go on a nice cruise…"

Red looked thoughtful at her words. A cruise, huh? That _did_ sound nice…As much as he loved battling and training, he liked to relax now and then. And he was sure that his Pokémon would enjoy the break.

As he looked over at the map of Kanto plastered on the wall, a smile formed on his face. The storm couldn't have timed itself more perfectly. He knew _exactly_ where to go if he wanted to enjoy a cruise, especially one on a ship that only came to that city once a year.

Vermillion City…

* * *

"Pika?"

Red shushed Pikachu, who had stuck its head out from Red's coat, where it was hiding. He looked around but it didn't look like anyone was paying him any attention, much to his relief.

It was sunny in Vermillion City, but somewhat cool. Red used this to his advantage and kept on the coat he wore when he was on Mt. Silver. The plain black coat hid Red's easily recognizable outfit. To further blend into the crowds in the city, Red made his Pikachu hide in his coat and also packed his hat in his backpack.

Red didn't expect the plan to work out, considering that even without his Pikachu and his regular outfit, his face was well known throughout the region. Also, he was certain he would attract some attention since he was wearing a winter coat when it was only a little cool outside.

But, so far, no one had looked twice at him. He guessed this was just one of those lucky days.

Red headed for the Vermillion port, a place he hadn't visited in quite some time. He recalled the first time he had come to Vermillion City and saw the port. That was also the very first time he had seen one of the most popular cruise ships of Kanto…

The S.S. Anne…

After winning against Lt. Surge in a battle that evolved his Bulbasaur into Ivysaur, Red had remembered that Bill the Pokémon expert had given him a ticket to attend a party on the luxury cruise ship. Thinking it would be a nice treat for his hard working Pokémon, Red boarded the ship, only to find out that the party was long over.

Not that Red didn't enjoy exploring the ship and challenging multitudes of trainers. Even running into Green, who bragged about actually making it to the party, didn't put a damper on his mood, since the battle his rival challenged him to was one of their closest yet.

Remembering those times, Red walked faster to the port. After all these years, he would finally be able to board the S.S. Anne again. But this time he could go on a cruise…

Well, a small one anyways. He'd have to get off the ship before it went to any other region. His role as a Champion prevented him from straying too far after all…

Red paused once he saw the Vermillion port in sight. It was, surprisingly, empty, save for a handful of smaller ships. Red was certain that the S.S. Anne was scheduled to be in Vermillion for the whole week.

The Champion felt even more puzzled when he noticed a police presence by the port. Sharing a look with Pikachu, who had poked its head out of the coat again after feeling its trainer stay still for too long, Red made his way over to the port.

"I'm sorry, sir," Officer Jenny said as she stopped Red in front of the port, "I'm afraid that this area is closed. We're not allowing any ship to sail through these waters until all of the dangerous debris has been cleared."

Red raised an eyebrow at that. "Dangerous debris"? What had happened? Was there a storm? He nodded that he understood before turning around and walking away. It was then that Red noticed the expressions on some of the Vermillion residents' faces. They looked dark, as though some terrible event had occurred.

"Did you come here to sail aboard the S.S. Anne, kid?" an old gentleman who was near the port asked. Red nodded, prompting the man to shake his head, "It's a crying shame…You should count yourself lucky that you weren't here before."

As Pikachu, who was tired of staying in the coat, came out and sat on Red's shoulder, the man continued.

"Three days ago, that ship set sail. It was odd, since it was supposed to stay docked for another few days, but off it went. Apparently, Team Rocket was aboard that ship."

Red furrowed his brow at that while Pikachu let out an angry growl. What had Team Rocket done?

"From what the passengers said, those fiends were trying to steal everyone's Pokémon. There was a huge battle, they didn't realize that they had sailed into a storm…The ship went down…"

Red grimaced at that along with the gentleman. To think that such a famous ship, a ship that had sailed all over for years without any major issue, would now be gone. Between a large storm and any damage taken from the battle between the passengers and Team Rocket, the ship couldn't handle it.

"While I'll miss seeing that old ship, it's still just an object," the gentleman continued in a tone that gave Red a terrible feeling in the pit of his stomach, "We assumed everyone escaped before it sank. But the next day, there were five people missing…Still haven't found any bodies."

Red let out a sigh at that. Did the families of the victims already know about their loved ones' fate? He couldn't help but feel guilty. If he had managed to expose Giovanni and disband Team Rocket back in Silph Co. years ago, this wouldn't have happened.

But he had to remember the circumstances of the Silph Co. incident…

"Sir!"

Red turned and saw Officer Jenny running towards him, a piece of paper in her hand.

"I forgot to ask," she said, "Five people are missing, and presumed dead, from the sinking of the S.S. Anne. Unfortunately, they were not official passengers, because their names are not on the list. We only know about them from passengers who had seen them. We're trying to identify them so we can inform next of kin."

Officer Jenny handed him the paper.

"Those are sketches of the five taken from witness statements," she explained, "Do you recognize any of them, sir?"

Red looked at the pictures, Pikachu staring at them curiously too. He didn't know the woman with long pink hair or the man with short bluish-purple hair. The girl with orange hair and the teen with spiky hair looked a tiny bit more familiar, but Red wasn't too sure why.

As his gaze turned to the remaining picture, Red felt his hands, his face, everything, go numb. His grip slackened and the paper fell out of his hand…That last face didn't belong to a stranger…

Ash…

* * *

The second Red saw the picture of the last victim, he had sprinted away, ignoring Officer Jenny's shouts. The port was blocked, so there was no way he could go through there. Eventually, he came across a beach area with no one in sight.

With a second thought, Red called out his Blastoise and had it carry him and Pikachu out to sea.

As they rode atop the Pokémon across the water, Pikachu looked at Red worriedly. He was biting his lip hard enough for it to bleed. His knuckles were practically white as snow from how hard he was clenching his fists. His whole body was shaking, though one would have to look closely to notice, as he stared ahead.

In that moment, Red didn't look like the all-powerful, calm, cool, and collected Champion of Kanto. Instead, he looked just like a terrified teenage boy.

Because that's exactly what he was right then…

After some time, the group noticed some pieces of furniture floating in the water. As they sailed past the furniture, they saw large pieces of wreckage.

This must have been where the S.S. Anne sunk.

Blastoise pulled up to a large piece of floating wreckage. Red dumped his coat and backpack on it before picking up Pikachu and placing it on the wreckage as well. Pikachu protested, wanting to come along, but one harsh look from Red silenced it. After taking a deep breath, Red patted Blastoise's shell, a signal to dive, which the Pokémon obeyed. When they went underwater, Red realized that they had some searching to do, as the ship was not anywhere in sight.

As they slowly dove deeper and deeper, Red didn't know why he was doing this. It had been days since the S.S. Anne had sunk. It had been deep under the ocean, under all of this pressure and amongst all sorts of water Pokémon, some big and hungry, the whole time. What was he expecting? To find Ash sleeping in an air bubble, perfectly unharmed?

It didn't matter what the rational side of Red's mind said. Because he couldn't, wouldn't, accept the idea that Ash was gone. The more optimistic part of his brain was thinking up all sorts of scenarios in which Ash was okay. That maybe there was a part of the ship that wasn't filled up with water and Ash was there, unharmed and with food and maybe some fresh water that he had packed, because Mrs. Ketchum wouldn't have set Ash off without a little food. And Ash must've picked up a couple survival tips from Red in the past. And the only reason Ash hadn't gotten out was that he was too big to escape from the area he was hiding in. Or he didn't have a water Pokémon to help him.

Maybe Ash wasn't even on the ship anymore. He might've escaped before it sank. Maybe Ash was safe and sound on another island and just didn't have the sense to contact the Vermillion police to let them know he was still alive. Never mind that Officer Jenny had probably contacted any police department near the wreckage site to keep an eye out for people matching the pictures on that paper by now…One way or another, Ash Ketchum was completely safe and sound.

In hindsight, Red was somewhat scared of how far his brain was willing to go to keep him from falling into the depths of utter despair.

Soon, Red spotted the figure of the S.S. Anne resting upside down on a seamount.

The Champion shook images of his ten year old friend being tossed around like a ragdoll as the ship capsized from his mind. Instead he urged Blastoise to get closer to the ship.

The Pokémon circled the vessel, trying to find a safe entry point. Red knew that it was pretty risky entering the ship, considering that one small bump could send it plummeting into the pitch black abyss below.

Before they could even think up an idea to enter the ship, Red put a hand over his mouth. He had been underwater too long…Blastoise, sensing its trainer's distress, headed for the surface.

Red gasped once they broke the surface, barely registering the cries of his Pikachu from several feet away. Instead, Red took another great gulp of air and patted Blastoise's back. A little hesitantly, the water Pokémon obeyed the signal and dove again, this time faster since they knew where the ship was.

It didn't matter that they knew where the ship was if they couldn't enter it though. Anytime Red thought he spotted an entrance, it would be a spot that was too small to enter or a place that could put the ship off balance if entered the wrong way.

While they tried to find an entrance, Red would run out of breath, forcing the back to the surface. Blastoise was worried that Red only allowed them to stay long enough for him to take another big breath before diving again. While Blastoise could handle the repeated diving sessions, it knew that human bodies were far more fragile to the sudden pressure changes.

But, from the look on Red's face as they dove for the twelfth time in the past few minutes, it seemed that the Champion was past the point of caring about his own body.

* * *

Meanwhile, back above the water, Officer Jenny and a few of her men had grabbed a boat and were searching for the somewhat familiar looking boy with the Pikachu who had run off earlier.

Jenny didn't know what had come over the teenager when she had handed him the paper with the pictures of the victims. He looked at it, got a strange expression on his face, and then ran off as fast as a Rapidash. After not finding him anywhere in the city, Jenny guessed he had gone out to sea, maybe to the site of the S.S. Anne's wreckage.

Had he recognized one of the victims?

"Ma'am, up ahead!" one of the officers shouted.

Jenny followed the point of his finger and spotted a Pikachu sitting atop a piece of wreckage next to a coat and backpack Jenny recognized as belonging to the boy from before. It was staring restlessly at the water. It only spared the police a passing glance as the boat stopped next to it.

"Where's your trainer?" Jenny asked it.

Pikachu pointed to a spot in the water that had started bubbling. Jenny gasped as a Blastoise popped out of the water, a young man on its back. As she stared at the trainer, who was coughing and gasping, she realized who he was.

"…Champion Red…?" she said questioningly.

The trainer turned his head to her at the sound of his name. Jenny gaped at the desperate look in his eyes as he took a deep breath.

"Grab him!" Jenny ordered.

She and her men grabbed Red and pulled him aboard their boat before he could go under again. Jenny was glad that the Blastoise or Pikachu didn't think they were attacking Red. Instead, they were staring at their trainer with concern.

And no wonder…Red was pale and gasping, clutching his head and wincing as though he was in great pain. He looked absolutely exhausted, but he somehow found the energy to look at Jenny coldly.

"I told you no one is allowed out here," she scolded him, "Look, did you recognize one of the victims? Is that what this is about?"

The slight twitch of his eye gave her an answer.

"Listen," she began, her voice kinder, "It's been days since the ship sank. I don't know who you're looking for but I haven't received any word from the nearby seaside cities of anyone of those people showing up…"

Red turned away from Jenny, staring at the ocean. She saw just how scared he looked. Before Jenny could say anything further, Red winced again and clutched his head.

"Ma'am, he might have the bends," one of the officers said.

The bend, decompression sickness, was a diver's nightmare. If Red had been diving far down multiple times, without allowing his lungs enough time to adjust to the sudden pressure changes, then he was in trouble.

"Get the oxygen tank!" she commanded, "We're getting him to the hospital!"

* * *

Red was still in the hospital as the sun set the next day. Not because he needed to stay there. No, he was cleared to go since his condition hadn't been too bad.

The police just wanted to keep him from going back to the ocean.

Red sat on the bed in his hospital room, petting Pikachu over and over as his eyes focused on nothing. The police didn't have to keep him there. By the time Red had woken up from his health scare, he didn't have any will to go back out to the wreck site.

He hadn't told the officers who he recognized from the list or any names. Red couldn't bring himself to say it aloud. And then there was Mrs. Ketchum to consider. Red still remembered how broken she was for weeks, months, after her husband's death. Finding out her son, her only family, was dead as well would be too much…It was slowly becoming unbearable for Red as memories of the kid he had played with wouldn't leave him be…

But Mrs. Ketchum deserved to find out…Red couldn't be selfish…

As Red was going to call the officers, one of the doctors stepped into the room.

"There's a video call for you."

The doctor led him to a private area where people made calls. Pikachu sat on Red's lap as he answered the call.

It was his mother…And she looked furious…

"RED!" she screamed, "What on earth were you _thinking_? I got a call a few minutes ago saying that my only son was taken to the hospital after he got ill from too much diving!"

Red felt grateful that no one had explained the reason he went diving…He wanted to do so himself.

"You're not even a diver!" his mother continued to yell, "Honestly, Red, you are sixteen years old, you are old enough to-"

"You're talking to Red?"

The Champion felt pain as a mad Mrs. Ketchum came into frame.

"I can't believe you, Red!" she scolded, "Scaring your mother like that! What would Ash say?"

Red balled one of his hands into a fist at the mention of Ash's name. He had to tell her…Right now.

"Honestly, I can't believe you would do something so reckless!" Mrs. Ketchum kept going on as Red opened his mouth to tell her about her son's fate, "When I saw Ash earlier today, he was telling me he would work hard to be just like you, but now-"

Mrs. Ketchum stopped her lecture when she saw Red's stunned expression at her words. Thinking that he was curious to hear about Ash, Mrs. Ketchum then explained about seeing her son at some competition in a place called Porta Vista. A few minutes later, Officer Jenny came in to tell him that three of the victims of the sinking had been reported safe and sound in Porta Vista and that she needed him to clarify if the one he was looking for was one of the found people.

As Officer Jenny asked him questions and his mother and Mrs. Ketchum demanded to know what the officer was talking about, Red wrapped his arms around Pikachu and let out a shuddering breath.

"He's alright…" he whispered, "…_He's alright_…"

* * *

Done! I actually did a bit of research for this chapter just to make sure someone could get the bends without being a scuba diver. And, for those of you who remember these episodes from the anime, the timing of events works out well enough. When Red is in Vermillion, that's when Ash and the others were on that island of giant Pokémon. The next day was when they had taken part in that beauty contest in Porta Vista. I changed up canon a bit, particularly in that the officers didn't know the names of the missing passengers and in that the S.S. Anne didn't fall into the abyss. Yes, I know it's called the St. Anne in the anime, but I kept S.S. Anne to flow with the games better.

Can you imagine how depressing the episode with the ship would have been if they had included a scene of Ash, Misty, and Brock's families getting notified of the presumed deaths? They never would've shown that on Pokémon but still…

Poor Red…I keep putting him through so much…By the way, I changed up the previous chapter just a tiny bit so that in the scene in the coffee shop when Red is trying to place Misty and Brock, he remembers their pictures from the S.S. Anne incident.

Well, I think that's all I wanted to say. Please keep reading and reviewing! And answer my question too! Thanks!


	6. A World Where Things Are Peaceful

Here we are again! Well, guys, this is going to be an interesting chapter! Drumroll, please!

…It's the first AU chapter of this story! Yeah!

Okay, I want to tell you guys this for the future. Whenever the chapter I'm writing is going to take place in an AU, the title of the chapter will begin with "A World Where…" However, I'm also planning on having a few chapters that lean more towards parody. Whenever the chapter I'm writing fits that description, the title of the chapter will begin with "In Which…" This is so that when you see the next chapter, you'll know if it falls under one of those categories. All other chapter titles will be as you've already seen in the past chapters.

What? Do I have a question for you guys today? Well…Let's see…Oh, I know! Which of the Pokémon rivals is your favorite and why?

For me, my favorites are Green/Blue/Gary and Barry. I love Green (though I called him Gary in my FireRed game) because he was so smug, which made beating him in battle awesome! I also love Barry because the guy is such a sweetheart and he made me laugh a bunch of times during my Platinum run.

Sorry this chapter is much shorter than usual, but the concept didn't call for much. I hope that you still enjoy it! Okay, time to start!

Disclaimer: Seriously, Pokémon is not mine!

* * *

It was Pikachu vs. Pikachu.

Both Pokémon were close to fainting at any moment. Each held on though, awaiting their respective trainer's decision. It had been a long battle, but the match would be decided with the next move.

The two trainers had gone into battle with the same Pokémon on both sides. Neither of them played type advantage, instead putting the same Pokémon against each other. It was something they always did, and it made for some good battles. For example, the battle between their Charizards alone had lasted a good six minutes. Now, at last, the pair had put their favorite Pokémon, their Pikachu, against each other.

Red was poker faced, having already decided on the attack his Pikachu would use. He looked over at his friend, patiently waiting for the younger boy to make a decision.

Ash thought long and hard about what order to give his Pikachu. This was the round that would determine if he would finally defeat Red.

The final decisions were made…They both ordered a Quick Attack.

It was a tense second of waiting…And then…

"Pikachu has fainted!"

"Darn it!" Ash groaned, "You won again, Red!"

"You were close to beating me this time," Red told the ten year old.

"Yeah, I was, right? Well, my Pokémon did their best!"

Red nodded in agreement. Both his and Ash's Pokémon had gone all out, but Red had emerged victorious from the battle yet again.

"Oh!" Ash cried suddenly, "Better save!"

Red looked over his shoulder from where he sat on the floor, his back pressed against the bed, to where Ash was lying on the bed. Ash used his stylus to tap the touchscreen of his DS. He always had a bad habit of forgetting to save after big moments, but he was slowly getting better.

The teen was babysitting Ash since their mothers had gone shopping for the day. Daisy Oak, who lived down the street with her younger brothers and grandfather, usually did the babysitting, but she was busy at medical school, where her grandfather was one of the top professors.

This meant that Green, Red's longtime frenemy, was probably babysitting his brother Gary, who was around the same age as Ash, at the moment. Red considered inviting the pair over, but his mother, Mrs. Ketchum, and Professor Oak had forbidden Red, Green, Ash, and Gary from being left alone together after one disastrous incident two years ago.

Red had planned to take Ash to the park, since the weather forecast said it would be nice, but it was way too hot out. It seemed to make much more sense for them to stay in Red's air conditioned house. And, when Ash had revealed that he had brought his DS and some Pokémon games with him, the two went up to Red's room and decided to challenge each other to a battle, like usual. Despite Ash only having started playing Pokémon a year ago, he was really skilled, mostly thanks to the guidance that a veteran gamer like Red was giving him.

"Man, I can't believe your Pikachu attacked first…" Ash groaned.

Red brought up his Pikachu's profile on his DS. Ash flipped over on his stomach and made his way over to the edge of the bed. He peered over Red's shoulder to read Pikachu's stats.

"They're almost the same as my Pikachu's," Ash said, "But yours is way faster…"

The pair turned off their games and Ash got off the bed to sit next to Red. Red opened up a small cage on his desk and took out his pet rat Pika, name courtesy of Ash. The two pet the sleepy rat as they enjoyed the cool air the air conditioner was giving them.

"It'd be funny if Pika was a real Pokémon," Ash giggled, "Like a Pikachu, maybe!"

Red rolled his eyes at that. The last thing Red needed was a life sized Pikachu riding his shoulder, chattering away, and sparking if he grabbed it the wrong way. He was just fine with his little, friendly, non-electric Pika…

"Did you hear that there's a new Pokémon game coming out in October?" Ash asked, "Are you gonna get it?"

Red pointed at his desk, where his 3DS sat. He was all prepared to get that new game. He wanted to preorder a copy, but he wanted to learn a little more about differences between versions and any other new features before he did that.

"Mom only bought me the DS last year, so I'll have to wait a couple years before I can get my own 3DS," Ash stated, "Don't spoil anything for me when you play it, okay?"

Red patted Ash's head, a smirk on his face. Ash's comment gave him an idea for what to get Ash for Christmas. Red was saving up a good amount of money thanks to his allowance, babysitting, and the salary he got from working part-time at the movie theatre with Green. He was certain he had enough to not only get Ash a 3DS, but also the opposite version of whatever game Red got.

Of course, Red would have to make sure he got Mrs. Ketchum's permission first.

"Hey, Red? Wouldn't it be cool if we lived in the Pokémon world?" Ash asked.

Red was about to agree with Ash when he actually thought about it…

Living in a world where a ten year old was deemed old enough to not only explore the world alone but to also capture and raise super powered mutant creatures that could easily kill you, either on purpose or by accident. A world in which you were made to go up against legendary creatures and hope with all your soul your Pokémon could take a few hits and that the legendary Pokémon wouldn't be too bitter over being captured by a tiny runt.

A world that seemed to have only a handful of decent fathers, although that wouldn't be any different from Red's normal life. But seriously, what was with the lack of good fathers in the game world? A world in which random people would force you to do tasks because apparently they're too lazy to do things themselves.

A world in which a little kid was entrusted with challenging a criminal organization that planned on wrecking the world in some way, despite the danger of being killed, or worse. Was there even a competent police system in the Pokémon game world?

Not to mention the designs of some of the Gyms in the game. The fifth generation especially came into mind, with being shot out of cannons and sliding on ice over bottomless pits.

Then, there were some of the Pokémon themselves. Some of their Pokédex entries were, if not downright terrifying, utterly creepy.

"Red, wouldn't it be cool?" Ash asked again, a little curious about the strange expression on the teenager's face.

"…Heaven help us…"

* * *

And done! Honestly, this story can operate under the tagline "Red for big brother figure of the year!" or "Red, you poor soul"…Sometimes, I'm glad when I write for characters like Red. It gives me a lot of leeway in how I can portray the character.

Well, I don't have much else to add! Once again, sorry that this chapter is shorter than usual, but it was a pretty simple concept that didn't need that much! And honestly, if you really think about it, the Pokémon game universe would be a kind of sucky place to be in…The anime universe is only a bit better…Doesn't mean I still don't wish I could be a part of that world.

Well, as usual, please read, review, and offer me your answer to the question!


	7. In Which Red Needs A Gimmick

Hello, guys! I planned on having a different chapter for today, but I got this idea after seeing a couple of pictures online. I mentioned that yesterday's chapter was the first AU chapter of this story.

Well, this chapter will be the first somewhat-parody chapter of the story! I say "somewhat-parody" because these types of chapters will differ in their parody level…The art that inspired this chapter is "Pkmn- Secret technique" by meru-chan and "And the practice continues.." by Daenarys. Both of these drawings are well done and funny, and both can be found on deviantArt. I highly suggest checking out the drawings if you want a laugh, though check out the drawing by meru-chan first if you want to understand the background behind the drawing by Daenarys.

This chapter is a bit shorter than usual, but still longer than the last one. Once again, the concept is simple. This chapter is just supposed to make you laugh a little.

You're going to need a laugh, because the next two chapters of this story are going to be on the darker side and get into some negative aspects of the relationship between Ash and Red. You'll see what I mean when those chapters are up.

I don't have a question in mind for today, so let's just get into the story now!

Disclaimer: WillowBlueJay17 is not the owner of the Pokémon franchise.

* * *

"Well, look who decided to come down from the mountain!"

Red put a finger over his lip to warn Green not to be so loud. Red looked around cautiously, hoping no one had heard. Glad that there wasn't anyone even around this late at night, Red slipped inside the Viridian Gym, Pikachu following right behind him.

"You know, I was going to close up for the day," Green said, before adding a little arrogantly, "Let me guess, you miss me, huh? You miss your old pal Green visiting you up on Mt. Silver, Red?"

Red glared at Green's teasing. Green, who had taken over the Viridian Gym a few months earlier after Giovanni had unexpectedly abandoned it, didn't have time anymore to visit Mt. Silver as he used to do every now and then.

Truth be told, Red actually did miss his old rival's visits and challenges. But he had not come to Viridian City for a match.

"Well, if you really want to fight me…" Green was still going on as Red came towards him, "I suppose-"

"I need advice," Red interrupted.

It was when Green made strange faces like the one he was making at that very moment that Red wished he carried around a camera.

* * *

"A gimmick?"

The two friends/rivals were sitting around the dining room table, Pikachu snacking on some treats while Red and Green drank coffee, in the small house that Green lived in, which was down the street from the Viridian Gym. As they had been walking to Green's house, though Red was doing more sneaking than walking, Red explained what he had come to Green to ask about.

"You want a gimmick?" Green asked again. He let out a disbelieving chuckle when Red nodded, "In all the years I've known you, you've never cared for stuff like that. What's up?"

Red let out a sigh as he thought about what had been going on…

Most of the trainers who managed to make it up Mt. Silver were too tired and cold to make any comments. After he defeated them, he wouldn't see them again, mostly because they didn't want to go through the hell of climbing the mountain ever again.

But then there was that very small number who showed up more than once for rematches. And the more they showed up, the more…unimpressed, he supposed would be term, they became. Not because Red was weak or anything. No, Red managed to beat them and given them worthwhile battles in the process.

Apparently, it was the opening to their battles with him, his greeting…They said it lacked pizzazz…

Red couldn't figure out what something like "pizzazz" had to do with battling. Wasn't the whole purpose of a Pokémon battle to do just that, battle? And Red wouldn't have minded if only one or two trainers were coming to him with that issue.

But when he had about ten trainers telling him he needed more appeal every few months, Red figured that it couldn't hurt to get some of this "pizzazz" junk they kept complaining about.

"That blows," Green said when Red told him the story, "Though, I gotta admit, I'm flattered you came to me. After all, I am known for being the epitome of cool."

Red secretly rolled his eyes at that. Using the word "cool" to describe Green was subjective. However, Red had swallowed some of his pride and come to Green specifically because those trainers who had complained said that Green knew a thing or two about appeal.

"Hmm, I'm tempted to help you, Poker Face," Green stated, a devious smile on his face, "If you're willing to beg…"

Red narrowed his eyes at Green before snapping his fingers. Pikachu put down the treat it was chewing on and sparked its cheeks.

"I was kidding, sheesh!" Green exclaimed, having been on the receiving end of that Pikachu's shocks several times over the years, "Alright, it's simple, Red. All you have to remember is P.A.T."

Red raised an eyebrow at that. What on earth was P.A.T.?

"Pose. Atmosphere. Theme," Green explained upon seeing Red's expression, "Just get those three down and your opponents will be too dazed by your awesomeness to battle."

"I'll talk about pose last," Green continued, unfazed by Red's skeptical expression, "Let's discuss atmosphere. You need to set the mood in order to really make your battle great. The stage you battle on plays a major role. Take my Gym for example…The walls are black and there are all these multicolored warp pads. The lighting is pretty dim…until the challenger reaches me. And then, bam! The lights go on! Really sets the tone."

Red looked a little thoughtful at that. He made a note to try and visit the Viridian Gym when it's open on a later date.

"Now, theme music is everything," Green went on, getting up and grabbing his laptop from a nearby desk. He turned it on and searched for something as he talked, "Once again, it all has to do with the mood. It shows your opponent you mean business, that you have to be taken seriously. Ah, here we go!"

Green turned the laptop screen towards Red, having pulled up an audio file. Green played the audio file and leaned back in his chair with a smile as his theme music filled the room. Red had to admit that the mix of trumpets and vocals did sound intimidating.

"See?" Green turned off the music after a minute, "Now imagine that playing as you make your way to through the Gym. Now, last but not least, posing."

Green stood up once more while Pikachu, who had finished the treats, hopped onto Red's shoulder.

"The pose lasts only a few seconds but it says a lot about who you are," Green said, and then proceeded to strike a pose, "For example, this one's mine. Doesn't it show that I'm awesome?"

Red was thinking up a few other words than awesome, but thought it wise not to say any of those words aloud. Pikachu jumped to the floor as Green pulled Red to his feet.

"Alright, now show me a pose!" Green commanded.

Red closed his eyes and took a deep breath, praying to whatever deity that controlled the Pokémon world to give him strength, and then mimicked the pose Green showed him.

"No, no, no!" Green cried, "What're you doing?"

"Regretting coming here, that's what," Red muttered.

"You can't copy my pose! It's my thing! You have to make up your own."

Red thought for a minute before he grabbed one of the Pokéballs on his belt, enlarged it, and then started to position himself similarly to a pitcher. He paused, annoyed, when Green held up a hand.

"Stop," Green said, "I know where you're headed with that. From what I've heard from Gary, Ash already claimed that pose."

Red huffed as he put away the Pokéball, and thought a little longer. He turned away from Green and Pikachu and put a hand on his hip. Green and Pikachu shared a brief puzzled look before Red suddenly turned back towards them. The brim of his hat hid his eyes and there was a rather sinister smile on his face.

When Green didn't offer any commentary, Red looked up, only to see Green and Pikachu wearing matching horrified expressions on their faces.

"Yeah, we can classify that look as something the world should never see!" Green stated once he got over his shock, "Though I think we're getting somewhere…Hey, take out that Pokéball again."

* * *

"Sorry for taking you away from training for something so little, Charizard…"

Charizard let out a small roar to tell Ash, who was riding on his back as they flew through the skies, that it was alright.

"The thing is Mt. Silver is pretty high, and Red says it's way too dangerous for me to climb yet," Ash told his old friend while Pikachu cooed at the feeling of the wind against his face, "It would take forever for me to get to the top. But you can handle a little snow, right?"

Charizard nodded and let out a roar just as Mt. Silver came in sight.

* * *

"Pika!"

Red looked down at his Pikachu, who was pulling on his pant leg and pointing in the distance. Red looked and saw a shadow of a figure in the distance, flying closer and closer.

Red shook his head, a little disappointed that his next challenger was someone who was trying to take the easy way out and fly straight to the top of the mountain. But this was his moment…

He would show off what he learned…

* * *

"Almost there!" Ash said through gritted teeth as the cold, snow-filled air blew in his face.

Pikachu had taken refuge inside the coat Ash was wearing. Charizard was faring well against the conditions as the summit of the mountain drew closer and closer.

"Ow!" Ash cried as something hard hit his head. He looked up at the sky, "What was that?"

As if in answer, something hit Ash's head again.

"It's hail!" Ash shouted as many tiny balls of ice fell from the sky, "Charizard, will you be fine?"

Charizard roared loudly as it flew faster, ignoring the pellets of ice. Just as Ash wrapped his arms a little tighter around Charizard's neck, Pikachu stuck its head out of Ash's coat, his ears twitching.

"What's the matter, Pikachu?" Ash asked as Pikachu's ears moved this way and that.

Just then, Ash heard it…It was soft at first but grew steadily louder the closer the group came to the summit.

"…Is that…_music_?" Ash asked incredulously.

As Charizard finally landed on the top of Mt. Silver, Ash realized that it was indeed music. A song filled with plenty of trumpets and horns, rather daunting…Just as Ash was about to get off of Charizard's back, he spotted a strange sight just a few feet away.

A single figure, who Ash was barely able to recognize as Red through the hailstorm, stood atop a small platform made of snow and ice. In one hand, he held a Pokéball. The other hand was holding the brim of Red's hat. His gaze was on the ground, the hat hiding his eyes from Ash.

Just as the music reached a peak, Red lifted his gaze, a determined expression in his eyes that was hard to spot, since he wore a blank expression…

…And he promptly froze upon seeing that it was Ash in front of him instead of a challenger.

Ash and Pikachu didn't get down from Charizard's back. Instead, the group of three stared wordlessly at Red, who was standing as still as a statue from atop the platform, the music still playing loudly and hail falling all around them.

After another awkward second, Red took his hand off his hat and made a slashing motion across his neck as he glanced to the side, a bead of sweat trailing down his face.

Ash looked over and saw Red's Pikachu standing near a boom box, the source of that music. The small Pokémon made its way over to the device and shut it off. The Pikachu then waved to a spot several feet behind Red, where Red's Lapras sat. The Lapras nodded and, suddenly, the hailstorm stopped.

Several more moments of silence passed as Ash and Red stared at each other…

"…Your mom wanted me to check up on you before I left for Hoenn," Ash explained after a moment, "She said she was worried…"

"…They said I needed appeal," Red replied, "Green told me to follow the P.A.T. method…"

"…No wonder she's worried…"

* * *

And done! I hope you guys got at least a chuckle out of this chapter! I said last chapter that this story could operate under two taglines. I'm pretty sure this chapter leans more towards the "Red, you poor soul…" tagline.

I said this is a parody chapter, but I can't help but think that Red spent a couple days thinking up a cool way to start a match with anyone who arrived at the summit of Mt. Silver…

I don't have much else to say other than keep reading and reviewing, please!


	8. Just A Little Bitter

Hi there, again! Well, now we're back for another chapter. In the last two chapters, I introduced you to an AU style chapter and a parody style chapter. Now, we are back into the main story…But it's not anything cutesy this time around…

You see, back when this story was still just an idea, I had plenty of ideas in mind for cute brotherly moments between Ash and Red. But, one day, I started thinking about their relationship a little deeper. These two care about each other and are somewhat similar, but they're also incredibly different. This is especially true in terms of their lives. Ash is a trainer who is exploring the world and Red is a Champion who is known as one of the best.

This chapter further illustrates the world this story's Ash and Red live in. I'll explain a couple points brought up in the chapter a little better in the bottom notes. Anyways, let's start!

Disclaimer: Pokémon is not mine, nor will it ever be mine…

* * *

Bitter…

It was a harsh word Red supposed, but it was the word that could best describe one of the darkest and most hidden feelings he had towards a certain someone. A certain someone who people who knew Red well enough, which would only be his family and friends from back in Pallet Town, would be surprised he held any negative feeling towards.

That someone was Ash Ketchum…

Red had known Ash since the boy was an infant, had taken a liking to the kid and looked after him over the years. Red reveled in his job as a role model and older brother figure to Ash. He was proud to be so admired by Ash and worked hard to be someone who was worth the admiration.

It was for Ash's sake that Red had even strived to become not only the League Champion, but also the Champion of Kanto. It was for Ash's sake that Red had fought to earn that title at the age of eleven, becoming the youngest to claim the title. And years later, Red had become the longest holder of the regional Champion title in Kanto.

Because, as he had said before, he wanted to become the _greatest_ Champion for Ash, for whom he was akin to a hero.

But, as time passed, Red became aware that being a regional Champion was not the glamorous role that the media always made it out to be.

He had always believed that being a regional Champion gave one ultimate freedom. Red's original goal hadn't ever changed. His deepest desire was simply to battle as many tough trainers as possible and befriend all sorts of Pokémon, to see what the world had to offer. So, of course, he believed that being a regional Champion would open up new windows to explore…He thought that being the Champion would enter him into a world unlike anything a normal trainer would experience.

* * *

Red was congratulated by the Elite Four and the Champion he had beaten, and then he and his Pokémon were placed in the Hall of Fame. He got a letter, certificate, and a trophy from the Pokémon League a day after taking the challenge, before he was scheduled to leave the Elite Coliseum. When he returned home to Pallet, the entire town hosted a huge celebration for him. He spent most of it trying not to look uncomfortable as person after person came over and spoke to him, despite him not having much to say. He only got all of one hour to spend with his mother, the Oak family, and the Ketchum family.

Despite all of that, when he overheard Ash telling Gary that he wanted to grow up to be as cool as Red was, Red thought that it was all worth it. The festive mood lasted for nearly a week and Red found himself anxiously, and eagerly, awaiting the start of his new life as a Champion.

But nothing happened…

Once the celebrations had died down, Red woke up one morning and realized that things were the same. Sure, there was now a framed certificate and a framed letter on the wall of his room, as well as a trophy resting on the mantle in the living room…But, other than that, things were just as they usually were.

Red had thought that he just needed to travel in order to start experiencing the exciting changes the Champion life brings. So, after a few days of rest at home, Red decided to head out once more. After all, part of being a Pokémon trainer was journeying all around. His mother was disappointed that he was leaving so soon, Green looked surprise that he didn't want to stay a little longer, and Red had to pry Ash off his leg when he arrived at the Ketchum residence to say farewell. But Red knew that they understood his decision.

And so, with Pikachu on his shoulder as usual, Red went off on the same route he had followed a year earlier.

He would wave hello to familiar faces he spotted as he went from city to city. He would've talked to some of the Gym leaders, but he figured they would be busy with their challenges. He sometimes came across Pokémon he had befriended, but not caught, during his journey and played with them. But, other than that, he didn't experience anything new…

Was this how the life of a Champion was supposed to be like? Red had thought it would be more exciting than this, definitely filled with a bit more battling…Most people declined his offer for a battle, stating that they knew they would lose handily to the one considered to be the strongest trainer of the Kanto region. Red was disappointed that only a handful of people were willing to give fighting him a try. He was even more put out by how easily he defeated those people…

Were things _supposed_ to be this easygoing when one became a Champion? He had always thought the life of a Champion was incredible and challenging. That's how it was portrayed in the media.

It wasn't until a month later, when he had started to consider going home out of sheer boredom, that he learned just what a Champion's life was all about…

First off was the media. The only reason that Red hadn't been swamped by cameras and radio operators was that the Pokémon League forbade the media from interacting with a regional Champion for one month, so that the Champion wasn't overwhelmed. However, once that month was up, the media became an aggravating constant in Red's life.

He didn't mind the reporters too much at first. After all, there were only a couple of them in the beginning. After some questions, and shooting a little footage, they would let him go on his way. But as time passed, a couple became a small group, and then the small group turned into a crowd. At this point, they weren't so nice.

The reporter mobs practically stalked him. Red could never seem to escape from them. They would surround him, and then he would be bombarded with all sorts of questions as they practically blinded him with their cameras' flashes. Red was usually able to shove his way through to escape, but sometimes he had to rely on Pikachu to deliver a stinging shock to the crowd in order to get away.

It got to the point that Red, who always enjoyed sleeping outdoors under the stars, could only rest in Pokémon Centers. After all, each center's Nurse Joy made it clear that the media would only disturb the patients. Nights spent boarding at the Pokémon Centers were Red's only respite.

When Red contacted the League to try and get some help, the only answer he got back was that they could only keep the media away for that one month. It didn't matter that Red was getting constant phone calls, emails, and whatnot. That he couldn't camp like he used to. That, back in Pallet Town, there were reporters bothering his mother on a near daily basis. The League just said that he would grow used to their presence…

Then, there came the fans.

Once again, it wasn't so bad in the beginning. A few pictures, some talks, some gifts…Nothing big. But as Red became more and more prominent in the media, he learned just how rabid fans could be.

He constantly had to recheck his belongings to make sure someone hadn't sneaked up on him and tried to take something, as they have done in the past. It wasn't just his belongings he had to keep an eye on either…Red didn't want to recall that one time someone tried to cut off a bit of his hair. He couldn't go to the store to get supplies, or even sit down at a café, without some screaming fans finding him and trapping him, oftentimes touching him without consent.

But all of that was nothing compared to when Red learned that the life of a Champion wasn't free…

There was region right next door to Kanto, known as the Johto region. It was a brand new territory filled with all sorts of new Pokémon, new trainers, new Gyms, a new League, and so forth. While it was partly due to a desire to escape the media and fans, Red mostly wanted to go to the region to experience a whole new journey. He couldn't wait to see who he would face and the different Pokémon he could catch. He hoped the new region would provide him a challenge, since the trainers he came across in Kanto were not giving him the thrilling battles he longed for.

It wasn't even a day after Red decided to go that he was given a message from the Pokémon League. The League had been informed that he was calling about travel arrangements for Johto, much to Red's surprise, and so wanted to inform him of a major rule the regional Champion had to follow…

The Champion was forbidden from leaving the Kanto region…

There were certain responsibilities a regional Champion had, they told him. He had to be close by whenever someone took the Elite Challenge, even if it didn't seem like the challenger would make it to the Champion match. If he travelled to a different region, it would take too long for him to make it back to the Elite Coliseum. Plus, there were certain League sanctioned events and interviews that Red would have to participate in.

They apologized, saying that they understood that he would like to travel, but that a regional Champion had certain duties…Red knew what all of those words really meant.

Being the Champion wasn't the ultimate freedom…It was a prison…

It was a few months after learning this that Red took up residence on Mt. Silver, the place where he could escape and also have the guarantee of battling strong trainers, since only the strong could climb the mountain. Sure, it was considered Johto territory, but it was also right next to Kanto, so the League approved his decision, so long as he still fulfilled his duties and strayed no further away…

Time passed, and Ash became a trainer himself…

Red couldn't come down from the mountain often, but when he did, he made sure to catch up on how Ash was doing. Hearing of his friend's adventures made Red jealous as he remembered the old days, but he wasn't bitter yet.

But then he learned Ash was heading off to Johto a few days following the Indigo Conference…

Whenever Red could go home, he made sure to call Ash, who would gladly tell him about the Pokémon he had caught and the trainers he had met. A couple of times, Red had managed to sneak into the Johto region in order to meet Ash in a place he was heading for. He was caught the second time and given a strict warning about breaking the rules…

Then, Ash went off to the Orange Islands…Then, to Hoenn…Then, to Sinnoh…

Ash would tell him about so many new Pokémon he came across. He would describe the Gym leaders he faced. He would talk about the legendary Pokémon he encountered…

Red would occasionally sneak away to these regions, wanting to experience what Ash was talking about. But he could never stay more than a few hours before the League found out and ordered him back, threatening to remove his Champion title and even eject him from the League…After that last warning, Red never snuck off again…Ejection from the League meant surrendering one's Pokémon too…

After that warning, Red began to recognize the severe envy that was growing in him concerning Ash…

Ash may have been disappointed each time he lost a League, but that meant he didn't have to worry about stuff like the Elite Challenge. For Ash, that just meant he could try again in a brand new region. Whenever Red was able to go to Professor Oak's lab, he would record the information about the Pokémon Ash had caught in other regions on his Pokédex. He would then replay those entries over and over…Before Red stopped sneaking off, when he would run into Ash in those other regions, he would ask to see his Pokédex, eager to see what new Pokémon Ash had run into since they last met…

Hearing of all those adventures, meeting his friends, seeing those Pokémon…

Why couldn't that be _him_ anymore?

* * *

"Unova?" Red repeated.

"It's really far from Kanto," Ash explained, "That's why you haven't heard of it."

Red had been feeling homesick, so he left Mt. Silver and went to Pallet Town. He was surprised that his mother, Professor Oak, Mrs. Ketchum, and Ash, who was supposed to be home after the Sinnoh League, weren't there. An assistant at Oak's lab said that they had gone off somewhere. A couple hours later, that assistant said that there was a video call for Red.

Ash explained the strange encounter with a legendary Pokémon called Zekrom, and how he had decided that he wanted to travel the Unova region. He told Red how Professor Oak had said that there were Pokémon in Unova that couldn't be found anywhere else. Red chuckled at that familiar twinkle in his eyes as he talked about meeting new Pokémon and trainers…

…Things Red wouldn't be able to experience for himself…

"Red, are you alright?" Ash's voice snapped him out of a stupor. The kid was looking a little worried, "You seem tense."

"I'm fine," Red assured Ash, "Have fun…"

"I will!" Ash exclaimed, still looking a little worried for Red., "Man, a whole new region…I can't wait to tell you all about it!"

Red stared at the screen long after Ash had hung up. His Pikachu was sitting on his lap, looking up at Red with concern when it saw that Red was gritting his teeth, his grip far too tight on the phone.

Red worked hard to become the Champion of Kanto, and has worked even harder to keep that title over the years. Red also loved Ash Ketchum like a little brother, and he was happy for all of his accomplishments. And he liked hearing Ash's stories, since they were usually funny and/or action packed, though he couldn't help but wonder if he left out a few details now and then…

But Red wanted to explore new regions too. He wanted to capture new Pokémon and face all kinds of trainers from around the world. The closest he ever got was when, once in a blue moon, a trainer from another region managed to make it up Mt. Silver. And they never even stayed long…So Red really couldn't help it…

He couldn't help but feel bitter…

* * *

And done!

Okay, here's how things work in this universe. Each region has different rules and restrictions for the regional Champion to follow. In this universe, the Kanto Champion is restricted from going to other regions, for reasons mentioned above. It is also because Kanto is considered, politically and economically speaking, to be one of the weaker regions of the world, though they will never reveal this reason to anyone. Because of this weakness, Kanto doesn't want to seem weak by allowing its "strongest trainer in the region" to challenge other regions…To put it simply, they don't have faith in their own Champion's strength. They don't want to risk the chance of their Champion being beaten by another region, especially by someone who isn't a Champion, and embarrassing them.

Red really does care about Ash, and this bitterness he feels is a small part of him. But it still exists, because he wants to travel too…And so, although Red works hard to keep his position, he's also secretly hoping someone comes along and beats him one day.

Well, please keep reading and reviewing everyone! Thanks!


	9. A Little More Bitter

Alright, so we are back! This chapter is a companion chapter to the previous one, only this time we get into Ash's innermost feelings.

It was kind of hard to write this chapter, considering that Ash is such an upbeat guy and never down about things for too long. But this is supposed to be about feelings he tries not to let anyone else know about, so that made things a little easier. Plus, considering the universe this story takes place in and how wrote Red, it is understandable for Ash to feel this way…But, once again, it's nothing too major that affects his relationship with Red…

By the way, after some time, I have another question for you guys! Alright, so Ash's design for the upcoming Pokémon X&Y season has been revealed. What are your opinions on his look?

In my opinion, I REALLY love his design. I like how the animators not only based the clothes off of the X&Y male game protagonist, but they also seemed to have based it off of FireRed's version of Red. Seriously, look at the hat they gave Ash and compare it with Red's. It's almost identical. Ash looks incredible and very stylish, though I guess that's to be expected when you're travelling in Pokémon's version of France! Please tell me what you think!

Anyways, let's start now!

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon, in case you didn't know.

* * *

Bitter…

It was a negative word, a negative feeling. Ash Ketchum didn't really associate with negative feelings. But that word was the best way to describe certain feelings he kept hidden. It was best that he kept them hidden, because his family and friends would be shocked at who those feelings were directed at…

That person was named Red…

Ash had known Red all his life. He couldn't even remember a time when Red wasn't there for him, influencing him in some way, even if he wasn't there in person.

Red was everything Ash could ever want. A big brother who played with him and took care of him. A protector when some bullies picked on Ash for one reason or another. A partner for when they teamed up against Gary and Green, which happened nearly every day.

Red was even a goal that Ash aimed for. After hearing about Red's battles during his journey, whether it was against trainers or Team Rocket, and seeing his performance in the Indigo Conference and during the Elite Challenge, Ash knew what he wanted.

More than anything, he wanted to be as cool as Red…As strong and talented…

He wanted to be a Champion too.

It was with that goal in mind that Ash set out on his own journey. He considered it a sign of good luck that he ended up starting out with a Pikachu as Red had, though his Pikachu was not as friendly as Red's in the beginning. He had no doubt about it…

He would definitely become as great as Red…

* * *

Ash worked hard during his journey through Kanto, befriending different Pokémon and different kinds of people as well. He watched members of his team grow and he watched them leave too. He faced off against all sorts of wicked people, including Team Rocket, and even had to deal with Gary now and then.

His Gym challenges were, for the most part, rather straightforward. Though he hated to admit it, he really _did_ only get a bunch of them out of gratitude for some task, not because he actually fought for them. But Ash hadn't minded back then.

By the time he got to the Indigo Conference, after battling through the preliminary rounds and also doing better than Gary had, Ash had more than enough confidence in himself and his team…

Make that too much confidence. Ash's wins made him cocky, made him think he didn't have to do extra training. He had wholeheartedly believed that he could handle whatever would happen.

In retrospect, he shouldn't have been so shocked by the results of his match against Ritchie…He had had it coming…

While he was disappointed in his loss, having only made it to the top sixteen, what Ash hated the most was what Red must have been thinking about him at that moment. Red had made the effort to come down from Mt. Silver and disguise himself specifically so that he could watch Ash's battles. The idea of his hero having seen such an embarrassing performance was what snapped Ash out of his pity party.

As Red told him that it was okay to lose, he swore to do better, to make Red impressed with him.

And he did do better, so much better, as he travelled through the Orange Islands. He and Charizard finally reached an understanding with each other. He met so many new friends and caught some new Pokémon as well. The Orange League and its Gyms were different, quite different from how things were done in the Kanto mainland, so it took a little while for Ash to adjust. But he did his very best and put his faith in his Pokémon.

And he did it…He defeated the Champion and won the Orange League…He was a Champion.

Ash called Red about his victory a little while after he was entered in the Hall of Fame, beaming as the Kanto Champion congratulated him and said how proud he was. However, Ash noticed that Red's expression became fixed when Ash told him about wanting to take the Elite Challenge now that he had won a League Tournament, about hoping to face Red in battle. It was then that Red informed Ash of something he hadn't been aware of…

The Orange League wasn't considered official by the Pokémon League.

All Ash could do was sit absolutely still, Pikachu watching him worriedly, as Red explained that the Orange League was only a few years old, meaning that the Pokémon League hadn't verified it as an official League Tournament. Red assured Ash that he was indeed a League Champion…he just wasn't considered a Champion by the Pokémon League standards…

Ash couldn't believe it…He won the tournament, only to learn that it wasn't good enough for the League to recognize him. But Ash quickly threw a smile back on his face, promising Red that he would definitely become an official League Champion.

Ash got that opportunity in the nearby Johto region. While he caught even more brand new Pokémon, he had to say farewell, at least for the time being, to several others, including his Charizard. He worked hard in the different Gym battles. When the League Tournament came around, he made sure to use the lessons he learned from the Indigo Conference and the Orange Islands. He wouldn't be cocky and he wouldn't slack off…

His greatest test of how he much he had improved came when he got the chance to face Gary, specifically when all Ash had left was Charizard while Gary had three Pokémon remaining, two of which had the type advantage. But he wasn't going to be beaten by something like that. After all, Red had told him when he was little that type advantage, while annoying, could be beaten with a lot of creativity and some luck.

Let the record show that Ash Ketchum was nothing if not creative…

His long awaited victory against Gary gave Ash hope that he could win the Silver Conference…until Harrison came along.

But Ash had made it to the top eight this time around, much better than in Kanto. He had beaten Gary in a Pokémon battle after trying so hard for so long. They were even friends again, like they used to be. And now Ash had learned of a brand new region he could explore, the Hoenn region. Things hadn't turned out that badly at all.

So why, when Red had called to congratulate him later that evening, did Ash feel like he hadn't done well?

* * *

Hoenn offered even more challenges, and Pokémon, than ever before. He had a couple of people who recognized him…as the guy who lost so badly in the Indigo Conference. He even had an entire town against him, simply because he wanted to challenge a beloved Gym Leader. But Ash persevered and made to Hoenn's League Tournament. Once again, he lost by the time he had reached the top eight.

The night after his loss, when everyone else was fast asleep, Ash walked around the city, Pikachu following close behind.

What was wrong with him? He was so certain that he had planned things out this time. He was sure he had known what he was doing, had trained properly. Yet he lost in yet another League…

How did Red beat the Indigo Conference, and then go on to beat the Elite Four and the Champion, in such little time?

For the first time in a long time, Ash seriously doubted his ability as a trainer…

* * *

Such feelings disappeared though when he took on the Battle Frontier. There were rough moments, and a couple of rematches, but he went on to win. During the match against Tucker, people even acknowledged his past accomplishments for once, actually proving that they recognize him as a skilled, and somewhat unorthodox, trainer. While Ash was flustered as could be by the attention, he also secretly relished in it a bit, wondering if this was what Red felt like. Ash was even offered a position as a Frontier Brain thanks to how well he performed. Of course Ash didn't accept, knowing that he wanted to keep travelling and meeting new Pokémon.

Ash didn't think anything could bring him down after his well-earned victory. But, when he had gone back home, he saw a televised performance of someone taking the Elite Challenge. He saw the challenge going up against Red, who looked cool, calm, and utterly serious, though a sparkle of excitement twinkled in his eyes.

As Ash watched Red take down his opponent so handily, much more easily than Ash had ever taken someone down, a small voice in Ash's head wondered if he should've agreed to be a Frontier Brain. That same small voice wondered if Ash even had what it took to beat an official League.

Ash felt ready to prove that voice wrong when he took on the Sinnoh League. With determination, and a hint of disbelief, Ash managed to take down his toughest rival of the region, Paul. Ash was stunned by the victory because he had done. He made it out of the top eight. He was a semifinalist in an official League for the first time in his life. This was it…This was his chance to win!

Then came the revelation of his next opponent, a trainer who was mowing down all other contenders with a Darkrai, a legendary Pokémon. As he heard how no one else in the League had managed to defeat Tobias' Darkrai, Ash shook with excitement…and fear.

Not now…He couldn't lose now.

* * *

Tobias' Darkrai proved even more challenging than expected of a legendary Pokémon. Ash's Heracross, Torkoal, and Gible had gone down quickly. While he presented a confident demeanor on the outside as he battled with Sceptile, Ash was scared on the inside. He saw that Pikachu seemed to sense this fear from how he kept glancing over at Ash every couple minutes.

But then Ash did it. The Darkrai was down. He managed to take down a legendary Pokémon that no other trainer in the League could handle. As Ash prepared himself for the next battle, worried about what Tobias' five other Pokémon were and if his last three teammates could hold up to give him the win, he wondered if Red had ever had to face off against a legendary before. If he had, had he won?

Such thoughts froze when Tobias called out his next Pokémon, a Latios.

As Ash saw Sceptile and then Swellow go down, both having put up a good fight, Ash couldn't help but wonder what fate had against him.

When Swellow was defeated, Ash could feel the tears pricking his eyes. Pikachu was all he had left against a Latios and who knew what else. He looked up at the scoreboard, gulping when he saw how incredible the odds were.

But when he heard his friends' shouts and saw that Pikachu was looking upset at the situation, Ash forced himself to get over it. He could do it, couldn't he? He could win...He called out Pikachu, his last hope, wishing desperately for the chance to show Red that he could be just as great...

As the smoke cleared and Pikachu and Latios were revealed to be knocked out, giving Tobias the victory, Ash thought back to seeing Red become the League Champion and then the regional Champion.

One year, one League. That's all it had taken Red to become one of the greatest trainers in the world. Four Leagues, one unofficial League, the Battle Frontier, a bunch of miscellaneous contests…Where was Ash? Still nowhere near his hero's level. He could practically be considered a rookie, despite how much he had done.

These thoughts still swam through his head when he called Red later that day.

"I wish I could have competed," Red told him almost wistfully.

"Yeah, you would've won!" Ash stated with a grin.

_You would've won easily too. Not like me…_

Ash flinched at that thought as he and Red said their farewells and ended the call. As Ash thought about how far away he was from Red, how Red had risen so high in such a short amount of time, Ash grit his teeth. He loved Red like his brother, was proud of him and still thought of him as the best in the world.

But he couldn't stop feeling bitter…

* * *

Ash isn't so happy and perky as usual, huh? I really wanted to get into his head when it came to being so close with a trainer like Red and how desperately he's trying to be as great. Like I said before, this Ash is mostly the same as the Ash we all know, but he's still a little different. This universe's Ash has a person as a goal, unlike anime Ash, and that's starting to get to him.

As I mentioned before, the bitterness that Red feels towards Ash and vice versa is only a small part of who they are, and usually not that prominent. However, the bitterness is still there, and if they don't talk to one another about it eventually, it may not remain something minor. Red's growing jealousy and regret and Ash's own growing feelings of jealousy and inferiority can turn their friendship into something terrible if they don't confront it. I would like to write a chapter in which these two actually work out these issues, but that chapter may not happen for a while…A long while…Hmm, now that I think about it, it could be fun if I also eventually wrote an AU in which they didn't work out the issues…Well, that's all for the future. I'll make sure the next few chapters are filled with fun and adorableness to make up for the dark mood of these past two chapters!

Please continue to read and review! And please answer my question! Thanks!


	10. The Merits Of A Butterfree

Hey, everyone! I hope you guys had a fun 4th of July celebration! Mine was double the fun, because my niece was born on July 3rd, so we celebrated her birthday on the 4th, which meant ice cream cake! Yay!

One thing I hate about the holiday though is that my neighborhood doesn't get the idea that fireworks should be launched on the 4th…Seriously, people were setting off fireworks nearly every day for a week before the actual holiday. And they always set them off when everyone else is trying to go to sleep. They were still setting them off yesterday too! It's not just on the 4th we have problems with my neighborhood and fireworks either…Sigh…

Oh well, time to get into the story! Like I promised, we're back in happy town after the darkness of the last two chapters! And look at that, we're actually heading back to Red and Ash's childhood!

Disclaimer: As mentioned in previous chapters, I do not own Pokémon.

* * *

"Ah, Red, you're already here! Sorry, but Ash isn't ready yet. Gary's not here either…"

Red greeted Mrs. Ketchum with a wave as he stepped inside the house and took a seat on the couch. The twelve year old Kanto Champion let out a sigh of contentment at the peaceful atmosphere of his hometown.

It had been a year since Red had become the regional Champion and five months since he decided to live on Mt. Silver to escape the aggravating parts of his fame. It had also been three months since he last came down from the mountain. After spending the previous day with his mother, who had missed him terribly and worried about how he was taking care of himself up on Mt. Silver, Red had decided that he wanted to do something fun with Ash and Gary. He had missed the pair of six year olds. He was lucky with the timing of his arrival in Pallet Town, since there was a nice event that was going to happen near sunset.

Mrs. Ketchum headed to the door when she heard a knock. She opened it to reveal Gary, who burst in excitedly.

"Sorry I'm late," he said, wiping his cheek with a frown, "Daisy wouldn't let me go until she covered me in some weird gunk."

"That must be Repel," Mrs. Ketchum chuckled, "Oh! That's a good idea! I need to put some on Ash!"

Mrs. Ketchum retrieved a bottle from a cupboard and headed for the stairs, pausing at the foot of them.

"Red, dear, do you need some?" she asked.

Red shook his head. He already had his mother practically drown him in Repel before he left home. It was why he had left Pikachu and his other Pokémon back at his house. Repel was a spray that people could put on that lasted about three hours. It emitted an odor that only Pokémon could smell, an odor that Pokémon hated. Pokémon stayed far away from anyone covered in Repel. It was how people who didn't have Pokémon themselves travelled between cities without worrying about attacks.

The darker it got outside, the more Pokémon would come out, since that usually meant less people too. With Red, Ash, and Gary doused in Repel, they would be nice and safe on their outing. Of course, Red could have just brought Pikachu along to battle any Pokémon that got vicious, but his mother, Mrs. Ketchum, and Daisy didn't want any risk of the younger boys getting hurt.

Pokémon trainers generally didn't use Repel themselves, unless the situation desperately called for it, since trainers enjoyed running into all sorts of Pokémon on their journey and could battle them if need be.

Plus, Repel was on the pricy side, so that also added to why people used it as sparingly as possible.

"Quit it!"

Red and Gary turned their heads towards the stairs, only to see Ash racing down them with his mother close behind, holding out the bottle of Repel.

"Ash, hold still!" Mrs. Ketchum scolded, "I'm nearly done."

"I don't like that stuff," Ash groaned as Mrs. Ketchum sprayed his arms, "It feels weird."

"C'mon, Ashy-boy," Gary said amusedly, "If me and Red have to wear it, so do you."

Ash gave Gary a look before pouting in Red's direction.

"Do we _have_ to bring him?" he asked.

While that question started Ash and Gary off on another of their infamous arguments, Red snickered. It was something else how Ash and Gary's relationship mirrored the one he had with Green. But he and Green had grown out of it, at least a little, so perhaps there was some hope for the kids.

After making sure that Ash was adequately covered in Repel, Mrs. Ketchum went into the kitchen and brought out a small picnic basket. Red was surprised as he took the basket from her.

"I took the liberty of making you three a nice dinner," she told him, "Ash has a habit of not eating his vegetables, so I need you make sure he does, or no dessert for him, okay?"

Red nodded, lifting one of the flaps of the basket to peer at the delicious smelling food inside.

"And you're sure you three will be back before it gets too dark out?" Mrs. Ketchum asked.

Red offered a small salute as his answer. He didn't plan on staying out too long at all. After all, the event he was taking the boys to see would be over before the sun fully set, which was going to happen in about two hours.

And so, once everything was settled and Mrs. Ketchum had made the six year olds stop fighting, the three set out.

* * *

Red led the younger boys to a small hill in the middle of one of the open fields on the outskirts of Pallet Town. As Ash and Gary decided to play tag, Red set up the picnic Mrs. Ketchum had packed for them. As he spread out the blanket, he looked out in the distance, where some Pidgeys and Rattata were looking in his direction.

He would have loved to have let Ash and Gary have a close encounter with the wild Pokémon, but the Repel wouldn't allow it.

Then, he spotted some wild Nidoran walking by in the distance, occasionally looking in his direction and twitching their noses. On second thought, he was glad that the boys were covered in Repel. While Gary, having grown up at the lab, would know better, Red knew that Ash would have tried to hug the cute looking Pokémon. The last thing Red needed was Ash getting poisoned on his watch, especially when he had brought them out to have some fun together.

"Hey, you cheated!"

"You can't cheat in tag, stupid!"

"Well, you _did_, dummy!"

Red sighed and shook his head as he glanced over to where Ash and Gary were. The two were right in each other's faces, seconds away from starting a brawl. Red made his way over to them and grabbed them by the back of their shirts, dragging them towards the picnic as they protested.

* * *

"Mommy makes the best food!" Ash cried happily.

The three were having dessert, sweet flan covered in caramel, as they watched the sun slowly set, coloring the sky orange, red, and pink. Red was never more thankful for food. Mrs. Ketchum's cooking had kept the boys calm and happy as he waited for the event to start.

"Yeah, it's pretty good," Gary agreed as he put another spoonful in his mouth, "But nothing tops Daisy's cooking."

"No one is better than my mommy," Ash argued.

"No one's better than my sister," Gary retorted.

Red realized that life had a habit of jinxing whatever he was thinking when things were going well.

"Hey, Red, what'd you bring us out here for?" Gary asked while Ash grumbled about his mother being the best cook.

"Yeah, you said something cool would happen," Ash said.

Red took the boys' empty plates from them, a smile on his face. He put all the garbage away in the basket and set it aside. He motioned for the boys to lie back on the blanket like he was doing. Ash and Gary shared a confused glance before lying down on either side of Red, staring up at the ever darkening sky, which was starting to be dotted by stars.

"Red?" Ash said questioningly.

Red put a finger over his lips to shush him. He then pointed at his ear. Ash and Gary listened carefully…and then they heard it.

It was a strange chirping noise, soft at first. But slowly it grew, both in noise and in numbers.

"Whoa…" Ash and Gary both said in awe.

Flying over where they lay were dozens upon dozens of Butterfree. The Butterfree were all chirping at each other as they flew, a twinkling powder floating down as they flapped their wings. The Butterfree looked beautiful against the darkening sky.

This was the event that Red had been waiting for. Every year, around this time, the newly evolved Butterfree would fly over Pallet Town as they travel from Viridian Forest to their mating grounds across the sea. It was always quite the sight to see. Ash and Gary had always fallen asleep in previous years, so they never got to saw it before. Red was glad they finally got to experience the event themselves.

"There are so many Butterfree," Gary said in amazement.

"They're pretty," Ash added.

Red smiled at the boys' expressions before pulling out his Pokédex, which was in his vest. He scrolled through the information on various kinds of Pokémon before coming across Butterfree's entry.

"Butterfree, the Butterfly Pokémon," Dexter's voice stated, "In battle, it flaps its wings at high speed, releasing highly toxic dust in the air. The scales covering its wings repel water, allowing it to fly in the rain."

"Toxic dust?" Ash repeated, "Is that the sparkly stuff coming down?"

"No, that's pollen," Gary replied, "Grandpa told me that some plants in Viridian Forest have pollen that sparkles. The pollen falls on the Butterfree's wings and then spread around when they fly."

Red wasn't that surprised by Gary's knowledge. The kid was as smart as Green and Daisy were. He glanced at Ash, who had a bright smile on his face as he watched the Butterfree pass.

"They look cool!" Ash exclaimed before turning to Red with an eager expression, "Hey, Red, I'm gonna get a Butterfree when I'm a trainer."

Red nodded at that, amused by Ash's enthusiasm. Most boys he knew, except for those bug catchers, stayed away from Butterfree. The common consensus was that Butterfree were a bit too girly for most guys' taste. Plus, and this was the common opinion among both genders, Butterfree were not considered to be good Pokémon to have for the long run, especially for those who wanted to become Champion.

The three watched the Butterfree for a little longer than Red had planned, enjoying the beautiful sight and the relaxing, cool breeze.

Red regretted the decision when both Ash and Gary fell fast asleep, forcing Red to have to carry the pair and the picnic basket back home by himself.

* * *

A couple days past and Red headed for the Ketchum residence. There were a bunch of Butterfree eating nectar in the flower fields at the outskirts of the town, and Red wanted to bring Ash along to check them out. He would have invited Gary too, but Green had arrived the day before and, after another fierce battle between them, Green took Gary and Daisy on a little trip to Viridian City for the day.

Pikachu let out a happy cry as it enjoyed the gentle breeze in the air. It was excited to be able to go along with Red to see the Butterfree this time.

There was Ash, playing with a ball in front of the house as his mother tended to her garden. After greeting Mrs. Ketchum, Red went over to Ash to invite him on the trip.

"…I don't want to come…" Ash mumbled when Red told him about the Butterfree, his gaze directed towards the grass, "Butterfree are too girly…"

Red raised an eyebrow at that. Ash had been so ecstatic over Butterfree just a couple days earlier. And the six year old had never cared about a Pokémon being stereotypically girly before. The twelve year old glanced over at Mrs. Ketchum, who mouthed the words "Talk to him".

Red got to his knees and put his hands on Ash's shoulders, looking at him questioningly as Pikachu hopped down to the ground beside the pair. What was with his sudden change in attitude?

"The guys in town said so," Ash finally told him after some awkward silence, "They said only girly babies would want a Butterfree…"

Red held back a low growl. So, after all this time, the guys in town were still bullying Ash. He had hoped that would have stopped a long time ago, that those kids would have grown up by now. Red felt sorry for Ash, who had always been a target since he didn't quite have Red's cold glare, or Green's sharp tongue, or Gary's snarky attitude to keep bullies away.

"W-where are we going?" Ash asked as Red took him by the arm and pulled him towards his house, Pikachu close behind.

* * *

"What do you want to show me, Red?" Ash asked while he sat on the couch beside Red's Pikachu.

Red waved his hand to tell Ash to wait as he looked through all of his tapes to find the right one. Once he had, he put the tape on and started fast forwarding as he searched. After a couple minutes, he paused when he found the right moment and took a seat beside Ash.

Ash looked at the paused image on the screen and saw a girl holding up a Pokéball. Across from her was an old woman who Ash recognized.

"Agatha, right?" he said questioningly. Red nodded, "So…Is this from an Elite Challenge?"

"That girl, Leaf, was the Champion five years ago," Red explained.

Ash nodded in understanding before looking at the screen excitedly. The kid was always eager to watch a Pokémon battle, especially one from the League Tournament or the Elite Challenge. Red smirked as he pressed the play button on the remote.

The audience let out a deafening roar as Agatha sent out her Gengar. The girl named Leaf looked at the Pokéball in her hand and gave it a quick kiss for luck before tossing it.

"And here we go, folks!" the announcer yelled out, "It looks like Challenger Leaf has chosen…Wait, what?"

Ash shared in the confusion with the announcer and several members of the crowd as Leaf sent out a very familiar looking Pokémon.

"It looks like our challenger has sent out a Butterfree!" the announcer stated in surprise, "Well, I'll be! Definitely haven't seen one of those in any Elite Challenge before."

As the match began, Ash was confused. Red said that Leaf was a Champion, meaning that she had beaten Agatha…But was she really using a Butterfree?

Ash didn't have time for any more questions as he watched what happened, Red occasionally glancing at him with a smile.

Leaf's Butterfree was very fast, darting around the field and dodging the attacks Gengar launched at it. Butterfree hit a couple of Aerial Ace attacks to slow Agatha's Pokémon down. When Gengar finally landed a Shadow Punch on Butterfree, causing it smack hard against the ground, Ash had thought it was over.

"C'mon, Butterfree!" Leaf cried, still looking confident, "Time for our counterattack!"

The Butterfree let out a cry at its trainer's words and, to Ash's shock, flew up.

"Psybeam, Butterfree!" Leaf commanded.

The Butterfree did as Leaf said, launching out the attack. Gengar was able to dodge the first one, but then the Butterfree got up close and launched a second one right in its face.

"Gengar is unable to battle!" the referee announced, "Round one goes to Butterfree!"

Ash stared in shock as Leaf gave her Butterfree a thumbs up. A little Butterfree had won against that creepy looking Gengar…

When Agatha sent out her Golbat and Arbok, Leaf sent out other Pokémon. However, when Agatha called out her Haunter and her second Gengar, Leaf kept sending out Butterfree. And that little Butterfree put on a magnificent show against the bigger and much scarier looking Pokémon it went up against.

After a grueling ten minutes, Agatha's second Gengar, her last Pokémon, fainted. Leaf let out a shout of happiness as she ran forward and embraced her tired Butterfree as Leaf was declared the winner.

"That…was…COOL!" Ash shouted as he got to his feet, a wide smile on his face, "She beat three Pokémon with a Butterfree!"

"Not such a weak Pokémon now, huh?" Red asked as he scratched Pikachu behind its ears.

Ash shook his head no. There was no way he believed that Butterfree were weak anymore after seeing such a great performance.

"And don't worry about them being 'girly' either," Red continued, "'Girly' never equals 'weak'. If you ever catch a Butterfree, I'm sure it'll be worth it."

"You mean _when_ I catch one!" Ash corrected. He tugged on Red's arm, "C'mon, you said you would show me a whole bunch of Butterfree!"

* * *

"I'll miss you, Butterfree!"

Ash waved with both of his arms, tears in his eyes, as his beloved Butterfree flew off with his mate to start a family. Ash and Butterfree never once broke eye contact with each other until Butterfree had flown far out of sight.

Ash's Butterfree had always been a reliable and tough companion, ever since he caught it as a Caterpie. Butterfree had been through some tough scenarios with Ash, and the Pokémon came through for Ash when he needed him to.

"It was worth it, Red," Ash whispered to himself as he wiped tears out of his eyes.

Butterfree may not have been able to stay for the long run, but now he was free to live a new, happy life with his own family. Ash was certain that Butterfree would have been one amazing Pokémon had he stuck around…

So, with confidence, he could definitely say it was all worth it.

* * *

Wow, we haven't had a chapter this long in forever, huh? And Red broke his own record with a grand total of five spoken sentences in this chapter! Sorry this chapter is late, but my dad needed to use my laptop since his computer has a virus…By the way, the Butterfree Pokédex entry I used is a mix of the original Red, Blue, and Yellow version's entry, along with a bit based off later entries.

Let me tell you guys about Butterfree. In my FireRed game, I had my own Butterfree. Her name was Bella and she was the best! She was also a part of the team I took to the Elite Four. And yes, I used her against Agatha. Now let me tell you this. Her moveset was Aerial Ace, Psybeam, Silver Wind, and Giga Drain. I had used the TM for Psychic on another Pokémon…Anyways, Bella performed above and beyond what I expected, especially considering I made it a point to have my entire team under leveled, to make it a challenge for me. How under level was my team? By the time I beat the Champion (who I named Gary), my highest level Pokémon was only at level 56. But yeah, Bella took hits like a boss and took down Agatha's Ghost Pokémon like a champ. And she did phenomenally against Gary's Exeggutor.

The moral of this story is that all Pokémon are capable of being a badass.

Please keep reading and reviewing!


	11. Commentary With Red And Green

Hi there! Well, we're getting into the next chapter now. I thought it would be interesting to show you guys just how Red lives on Mt. Silver. But that's only the beginning, as this chapter is mostly devoted to something that I hope you find entertaining…

Man, I keep seeing all this stuff about Pokémon X&Y and I feel so jealous! I want to play the games when they come out, but I don't have a 3DS. I probably won't ever get one either since, after borrowing one from a friend, I realized they bother my eyes too much. Oh well, I'll just have to watch some of my favorite Let's Players on YouTube play the game…

By the way, what do you guys think will be the theme for the villains in this game?

Team Rocket was basic take over the world stuff. Teams Aqua and Magma were about nature. Team Galactic was about the universe. Team Plasma was about Pokémon rights. From what I've seen, people are assuming that X&Y are going to be about genetics in some way, so maybe the villain team is going to do some genetic experiments or something? We'll find out eventually, I guess…

Disclaimer: Pokémon is not owned at all by the one known as WillowBlueJay17.

* * *

"Hey, Red!"

A string of words not meant for polite conversation went through Red's head as he glanced in the direction of that familiar voice.

The snowstorms up at the summit of Mt. Silver had been worse than usual for the past month, so Red and his Pokémon hadn't been able to do any training. Since it was actually clear and sunny for once, Red was taking advantage of the weather by making up for lost training time with his team. He had hoped that, thanks to the storms, no one would be coming up the mountain…

"What's that look for?" Green Oak asked as Red stared at him, "Aren't you happy to see me?"

Red sighed as he signaled for his Pokémon to stop their training. He then motioned for Pikachu to step forward. The Electric Mouse Pokémon jumped in front of Red, sparks flying from its cheeks and a determined look on its face. Red adjusted his hat as he got ready for what was sure to happen…

"Whoa, hold on!" Green cried, holding his hands up, "I didn't come here for a battle!"

Green let out a laugh at the similar flabbergasted expressions on Red and Pikachu's faces. It was true what they said. The more time a trainer and Pokémon spend together, the more they start acting like each other.

"C'mon, it's not like I _always_ come up here for a battle," Green said.

Red crossed his arms in front of him and raised an eyebrow at his old rival.

"Okay, maybe it's _kind of_ like that…" Green admitted after a moment, "But I'm seriously not here to fight you…Not that I wouldn't win this time, mind you!"

Red rolled his eyes at that before giving Green a questioning look. If he hadn't come for another battle, what would make Green climb all the way to the top of Mt. Silver? Especially considering that Green was the Gym Leader for the Viridian Gym…

"Hey, even us Gym Leaders need a day off," Green said, "And I thought the best way to spend my day off would be with my old pal, Red. We can watch the end of the tournament together."

Green saw that Red looked a little confused at that.

"You know, the Lily of the Valley Conference?"

Silence.

"Red," Green groaned as he put a hand over his eyes, "_Please_ tell me you didn't forget the Sinnoh League Tournament has been going on this week…"

Green saw the realization dawn on Red. The Champion's eyes widened before he darted away, leaving Green and Red's Pokémon staring after him.

"I swear, it's moments like this I wonder why people think that trainer of yours is a genius," Green sighed as he spoke to Pikachu.

Red's other Pokémon took the opportunity to relax and play as Green and Pikachu went after Red.

When Red had decided to live on the summit of Mt. Silver, he knew that he couldn't camp out there like he usually would anywhere else. It was often too cold, sometimes really windy, and almost constantly snowing. Basically, not proper living conditions for someone with a sleeping bag.

So, with the funds he got as the regional Champion and some assistance from his mother, Red had a small house constructed at the summit. It was only one story and made of wood and brick, very simple looking but a comfy place to live.

Green opened the door and peered inside the house. Other than a door to the left that led to a bathroom, the inside of the house was all open space. Opposite from the front door, parallel against the wall, was Red's bed, which had some drawers on the bottom for storing clothes. High above the bed was a shelf that held the trophies Red had won over the years. In the corner to the right of the bed was a comfy looking recliner. To the left of the bed, next to the bathroom door, was the kitchen area, which consisted of a few cabinets, a small stove and oven, a sink, and a medium sized fridge. Directly across from this kitchen was a small desk, atop of which was Red's laptop and some pictures of family and friends, human and Pokémon alike. The desk had some compartments in which Red kept books and other miscellaneous belongings. It was placed under a wide window that, on a nice day like this day, showed an incredible view across the Johto region, just like how the window beside the front door showed off the splendor of the Kanto region.

Red was seated at this desk, typing rapidly on his laptop as Green closed the door behind him.

"How could you forget the tournament?" Green asked as he took off his shoes and hung his coat on a rack beside the door. As Pikachu warmed itself by the space heater next to Red's desk, Green checked out some of the framed certificates Red had hanging off the wall above said space heater, "Ash is participating in it. Poor kid would be heartbroken that you missed his battles."

Red ignored Green's commentary as he arrived at the website for the Sinnoh League. He already felt bad enough for missing out on most of the tournament. But it wasn't like he forgot on purpose. While the water tank and most cables were situated underground to try and prevent any major problems, the Internet connection could be very spotty thanks to the bad weather. Plus, because of the harsh storms of the past month, the electricity had given out several times.

As much as he had been looking forward to watching the Lily of the Valley Conference, surviving the cold had taken precedence…so the tournament had slipped his mind as the days passed.

"This is what you get for becoming a hermit," Green teased, "Mister Champion _had_ to live on Hellscape Mountain."

"Green, I _will_ kick you out if you don't shut up," Red warned as he paid to access the livestream of the Sinnoh League Tournament.

"Well, look who's touchy today, sheesh! Just trying to kill time. The end of the tournament isn't for another hour."

Red looked at the screen and saw that all that was being broadcasted on the livestream were replays of certain highlights and interviews with people and trainers. There was a small clock at the top of the webpage counting down to the start of the day's events.

"You know, Ash has been doing better than ever in this League," Green stated as Pikachu, having been adequately warmed by the heater, jumped onto Red's lap to observe the laptop, "I haven't seen such close matches…If only Gary had stuck with battling…"

As Green started muttering about how he wished Gary hadn't decided to become a Pokémon researcher like his grandfather, Red looked at him in surprise. Green had said that this was the last day of the tournament, meaning that they were starting with the semi-finals. Ash had made it to the top four?

"Caught me by surprise too," Green said when he noticed Red's expression, "The kid's first time as a semi-finalist…Hey, we've got some time before the tournament starts up again. I'll show you Ash's battles."

Green grabbed the recliner and dragged it over to the desk, ignoring Red's winces at the sounds of marks being scuffed into the floor. As soon as Green took a seat, he typed away at Red's laptop. He went to a part of the Sinnoh League website where you could watch individual matches by clicking on a trainer's image.

"Let's see…Ah, here we go! Ash Ketchum!"

Green clicked the young trainer's face, which led to a bunch of videos popping up.

As time drew closer to the start of the day's events, Red and Green watched all of Ash's previous battles in the tournament. Green occasionally glanced at Red, curious to see how he would react to his old friend's skills.

Red was totally focused on the battles, Pikachu cooing in awe from his lap. He would sometimes smile unconsciously when Ash pulled off a clever move and chuckled when he recognized certain moves that he himself had used in the past. When they got to the last video, the match against some guy named Paul, Red was on the edge of his seat.

It was obvious from the way Ash and Paul were staring at each other that they weren't strangers. Red could identify that expression Ash wore anywhere.

This Paul guy was a rival…

Red found himself biting his thumb as the match went on, narrowing his eyes at some close calls. Despite knowing that Ash made it to the top four, he couldn't help getting into the match. That familiar twinge of jealousy sprung up inside him as he wondered what he would have done against these Pokémon, most of whom he had never been able to see in person.

Green, seeing the intense look on Red's face, felt a bit sorry for his old rival. Red was never someone who would be content staying in one place when there was a whole world of new Pokémon and trainers to discover. Sure, he had never heard Red complain much, but he was certain that the Champion was disappointed that he couldn't go to all these regions.

Red let out the breath he had been holding when Ash won the match against Paul. If that was a top eight match, he didn't know how intense the semi-finals would be on Ash. After all, looking at the semi-finalists, whose pictures were displayer in a small window on the side of the screen, the other three looked much older than Ash.

"Kid's got his work cut out for him," Green stated, pointing at the picture of one of the semi-finalists, a man with long dark hair, "He's up against that guy next."

Red raised an eyebrow at the tone Green was using. What was so bad about that man?

"The guy's been killing the competition with one Pokémon," Green explained, "A Darkrai…"

Red stared at Green blankly.

"It's a Sinnoh legendary…And a Dark type to boot."

Red frowned at that information. A legendary Pokémon being used in a League Tournament? He did not agree with that idea in the slightest. Legendary Pokémon were much stronger than the average Pokémon. Using one in a match, especially in a League, was no less than a slap to the face of all of the other trainers, in Red's opinion. But he was curious as well. How had the man captured a legendary Pokémon in the first place? Red would have been more interested if this Tobias guy had used the Pokémon that helped him catch the legendary in the tournament instead.

"Well, there goes Ash's chances of winning this League," Green muttered.

Red, whose eyes were still locked on the screen, punched Green's shoulder hard. Green glared at him as he rubbed his shoulder.

"What?" he asked, "C'mon, I'd like to see him win too, but Tobias has taken down all those other trainers with just that Darkrai. Most of those trainers are older than Ash, and they didn't stand a chance."

Red didn't respond to that. He too knew that Ash's chances of beating Tobias were slim to none. A legendary Pokémon was no joke…But he wasn't going to say anything aloud. He wanted to have faith in Ash. So he would watch what would happen and root for the kid as much as he had rooted for him over the years.

"It's almost time," Green said, "Go back to the livestream."

Red did as Green asked, a nervous feeling in the pit of his stomach as the livestream panned over the audience in the stadium as the announcer got everyone fired up. Then the camera cut to the field, where Ash and Tobias stood.

When the camera focused on Ash, Red could see that, despite how confident and serious he looked, his hands were shaking a little. Most wouldn't be able to notice, but Red knew him too well to not see these small habits of his.

Tobias sent out the Darkrai that had been taking care of the other trainers for him. Red let out a low whistle at the sight of the immensely intimidating Pokémon, Pikachu let out a small sound of wonder as he looked at the legendary as well.

Ash threw his own Pokéball, revealing a Heracross.

Red smirked at the reveal, remembering seeing the Pokémon latching onto Ash's Bulbasaur whenever he visited Professor Oak's lab in the past. The Bug/Fighting type was an excellent choice against a Dark type like Darkrai.

"Smart," Green said with a grin, "Looks like the kid has a head on his shoulders after all."

Red made sure to punch Green's shoulder in the same spot as before.

"_Ow_!" Green cried while Pikachu laughed, "Can't joke about anything with you…"

Red saw just how good this Sinnoh legendary was when its Ice Beam collided with Heracross' Hyper Beam, creating an explosion. It was a fast Pokémon, and powerful as well, but it didn't look like it could take too many hits. And Heracross were generally good physical attackers…

But, when Heracross launched an attack, Darkrai put it to sleep. Red wondered if Ash would have remembered something he had told him a while ago…

"Heracross, Sleep Talk!" Ash ordered.

"That's my boy," Red murmured as the sleeping Heracross used Megahorn on Darkrai.

"You sound just like a big brother, Red," Green chuckled while Pikachu started a little cheer routine from where it sat on Red's lap, "Good thing Heracross used a Bug type attack. That should do a lot of damage."

Both Red and Green let out a groan when Darkrai recovered from the hit and used a Dream Eater attack on Heracross, instantly knocking it out.

"Me and my big mouth," Green muttered as Ash called out his Torkoal.

Red bit his lip when Torkoal was beaten far quicker than Heracross was through the use of a Dark Pulse attack. Ash's Gible could have won the round if that Draco Meteor had landed, but that Darkrai proved how fast it was and took it out as well. While Red still didn't like the idea of using a legendary in the League, he had to admit that Tobias knew what he was doing with that Darkrai.

Ash called out his Sceptile, who Red remembered from the Hoenn League, back when it was just a Grovyle. It was a Pokémon with speed and power on its side, and that Darkrai definitely took more damage from Heracross than it was showing. This could be it…

When Darkrai put Sceptile to sleep and launched another Dream Eater, Red felt ready to punch out whoever was jinxing his thoughts. But, much to Red's surprise and Ash's relief, Sceptile was able to snap out of it and land a powerful Leaf Blade attack on the Dark type.

"Darkrai is unable to battle!" the referee announced.

Red and Green sat still and stared at the computer screen in shock as Pikachu hopped about and did a cheer.

"…He did it…" Green said after a moment, stunned, "He took out a legendary no one else could beat…"

Red let out a sigh at that. Ash had taken out that Darkrai, but he only had three Pokémon left while Tobias had five. But, surely, the other five couldn't be as bad…

But Red of all people should have known that anyone strong enough to capture a legendary must have one hell of a team. That was proven when Tobias' second Pokémon soared at lightning speed out of its Pokéball. As Red stared at the creature, he remembered a story Ash had told him about a place called Alto Mare.

It was a Latios…

"_Another_ legendary?" Green shouted in disbelief, "How did this guy get two legendary Pokémon? Does he have a whole team of them? Hey, Red-"

Green stopped when he saw Red's face. The Champion's eyebrows were furrowed and he was gritting his teeth. Pikachu called out worriedly to its trainer, but Red didn't respond.

Ash wasn't winning this League. Some might say that was a premature call considering the fact that Ash still had three Pokémon in play. But Ash had also lost three Pokémon just trying to take out that Darkrai. His Sceptile was not at full strength, so it was probably going down. That would leave Ash would just two other Pokémon, who would then have to take on the four other members of Tobias' team should they beat Latios.

Just as Red predicted, the much faster Latios took out Sceptile in one hit. As Ash called out his Swellow, who got into quite the aerial battle with Latios, Red knew that Ash's last Pokémon would be Pikachu. That Pikachu of Ash's was a strong one, and fast too.

But, as Swellow was knocked out, Red wondered if it was capable of taking out a legendary…

When Ash recalled Swellow, the camera zoomed in on him, showing his slightly shaking form. Red knew from his posture that Ash was fighting back tears. He glanced over at Green, who had a rare sympathetic expression on his face.

Red and Green could both understand what Ash was going through. After all, despite the positions they were in now, they were once regular trainers. And, like most regular trainers, they had their fair share of battles that put them at near impossible odds.

They knew that feeling of fear and growing despair quite well.

However, when Ash turned his hat around and declared his intention to win, Red smiled and shook his head. Truth be told, he would have been utterly disappointed if Ash had decided to throw in the towel, but not before he wondered what creature was possessing Ash's body to make him give up in the first place.

"He gets those balls of his from you," Green said as he nudged Red, a smirk on his face.

Red rolled his eyes, turning his attention back to the screen as Ash called out Pikachu. His own Pikachu perked up and cheered loudly for its counterpart.

Pikachu and Latios traded blows, Pikachu usually getting the worst end of deal. Red and Green didn't make any noise, their eyes glued to the screen as Pikachu hung onto Latios as the legendary flew around. Even Red's Pikachu was unusually calm as it waited for the end of the match. As Latios' Luster Purge and Pikachu's Iron Tail made contact, a large explosion occurred. Red and Green flinched, despite not being in any danger, as the video suddenly went black.

"I-it knocked out all the cameras," Green stuttered.

However, there was still sound, as Red could hear the murmurs of the audience and the announcer. After several moments of tense silence, the video didn't come back on but the referee made the call.

"Pikachu and Latios are unable to battle!"

Green leaned back in the recliner, letting out a sigh, while Pikachu shook his head over the results.

"So Ash didn't beat Tobias," Green stated as the announcer declared that Tobias would move onto the finals.

Red shook his head.

"But the kid _did_ take out two legendary Pokémon…"

Red smiled at that. Ash may not have gotten to the finals, but he did make it to the semi-finals for the first time. And yes, he had defeated two legendary Pokémon when everyone else in the League couldn't defeat one. So, in a way, Ash was a victor.

"I know how you feel about the use of legendary Pokémon," Green started, "But wouldn't it have been something to go up against that Tobias guy?"

"Definitely," Red agreed as the video feed came back on, showing Ash and Tobias making casual conversation with each other.

It would have definitely been something.

* * *

I am pretty sure this is my longest chapter yet. Red and Green are both teens, hence why there's more mature language in this chapter. Though still incredibly tame, since I am such a priss. By the way, I made a few adjustments to chapter 9 of this story, since I realized I was slightly inaccurate about the Sinnoh League portion of the chapter. I didn't add much, but I changed it up a bit.

Man, I remember how annoyed I was during the match against Tobias when I watched it for the first time. When he called out that Latios, I couldn't believe it. But Ash really did his best…And, seriously, beating two legendary Pokémon when no one else in that entire League could beat one? That counts as one awesome victory in my book!

Please keep reading and reviewing everyone!


	12. Of Fancy Soirees And Crossed Lines

Hey there, guys! Sorry for being so late to update! I'm infamous for getting summer colds, and this one was a doozy. Though I guess this was my own fault…I was the dummy who, after spending time in the ocean, didn't dry off before spending an hour in an air conditioned car…Oh well, I'm better now. I'm also late because I wasn't sure what chapter to do next. I was originally going to do my version of the events at Silph Co., which would have been a two or three part event. But I'm still working out the details on that. I had another idea involving a TV reporter and having Red and Ash in a more minor role, but I changed that up based on the Silph Co. chapters…

After some thinking, I thought that this would be a nice chapter! Hope you enjoy it! I hope you like the special major appearance by a certain game character. Well, first you'd have to recognize the name. Plus, a couple of very minor appearances by game characters from the same game as the major character.

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon, as stated numerous times already.

* * *

Red slapped Ash's hand lightly when the boy made a move towards his shirt collar.

"I'm hot, Red," Ash moaned as he rubbed his hand.

Red gave him a look, causing Ash to grumble but not touch his collar. Red secretly gave his own shirt collar a tug. The Champion understood how Ash felt. He himself wasn't too fond of formal clothing specifically because it felt too hot and restrictive. Not to mention that he greatly preferred dressing casually.

The reason the pair was dressed like they were going to a fancy soiree was because they _were_ in fact going to be attending one.

Every year, the Pokémon League hosted a black tie party and invited top trainers from around the world to attend. The different regions would take turns hosting the party. This year the party would be held in Kanto, which meant that Red, who was still forbidden from leaving his home region, would be able to attend.

However, Red usually avoided the event like the plague, having never been too fond of large shindigs. He didn't even go back when Green was a regular attendee of the affair, before he fully devoted himself to his Gym. Besides, if Red wanted to be ogled at and talked about by a bunch of strangers, all he had to do was step into a public place for a minute…

Plus, he wasn't going to some party to meet trainers from around the world if he couldn't even _travel_ around the world thanks to the Kanto League. He didn't need to be kicked while he was down by seeing all those Pokémon from places he could never explore himself…

The only reason that Red had decided to attend the party for the first time was because Ash was finally home after his adventures in the Decolore Archipelago. After the last warning he received from the League, Red had never snuck off to another region, the last one he had ever been to being Sinnoh. So it had been quite some time since Red and Ash had seen each other in person from the last time he had run into the boy in Sinnoh until now.

Even though Ash shared his distaste for fancy parties, Red thought it would be a nice treat to bring Ash to the event so that he could meet top trainers from around the world. There would be League and regional Champions, both past and present holders of the title, as well as other notable trainers in attendance. Ash was bound to find their stories entertaining.

"Hey, Red, will there be any battles?" Ash asked as Red bent down to adjust the younger boy's crooked tie.

Red shook his head, disappointed in that fact along with Ash. While trainers were allowed to bring their Pokémon with them, it would be for showing off rather than for fights. After all, getting all sweaty and worked up with a Pokémon battle wouldn't fit the "elegant" mood of the event.

"Well, maybe I'll see some of the Champions I know," Ash said, "Cynthia, Lance, Tobias, Virgil…"

Red chuckled as Ash kept on listing off the regional and League Champions he had met on his journey. He then looked over at his bed, where his Pikachu and Ash's were helping each other to adjust their bowties.

"Pika!" the two Pokémon cried out together as they looked over each other, apparently pleased with how they looked.

The black tie rule didn't really apply to any Pokémon attending the party, but Red's mother had insisted on giving the two Electric Mouse Pokémon the bowties simply for the sake of cuteness.

Speaking of his mother…

_Flash_! _Click_!

Red and Ash both blinked in surprise at the sudden burst of light and clicking sounds coming from Red's bedroom doorway. There stood Red and Ash's mothers, both smiling broadly and holding cameras in their hands.

"Mom…" the boys groaned simultaneously.

"Look at how handsome my baby boy looks!" Mrs. Ketchum cooed as she embraced Ash, who was muttering about how she was treating him like a baby, "Oh, but look at your hair! If only it would stay down…"

"Mom, quit it!" Ash cried as Mrs. Ketchum tried to flatten his hair.

Red's mother brushed some of her son's bangs out of his eyes before smiling gently at him.

"I'm glad I raised you right," she said proudly, "It's sweet of you bringing Ash along to the party. I know how you feel about these sorts of things, but try to have some fun too, alright?"

Red nodded at his mother's words, but he really didn't see the night ending well for him.

In hindsight, Red figured that he should probably ask Sabrina if he has some latent psychic abilities…

* * *

"Whoa…" was all Ash could say.

Red let out a long whistle and the Pikachu pair let out sounds of awe as the group stared at the building in which the party would take place. The Kanto League Estate was built and solely reserved for events such as the one Red and Ash were attending. It looked even larger and more luxurious than it did on the invitation, and that was saying something.

Ash stayed close behind Red as they made their way to the entrance, where Red presented the invitation to the guard.

Just a few minutes earlier, Ash had been running off ahead of Red, more than eager to check out the party. But now, as they entered the building and made their way down a long hallway to the main room, their Pikachu darting off ahead of them, Ash was hiding behind the Champion and staying unusually quiet.

Red waited for Ash to glance up at him before raising an eyebrow at the boy.

"I-I'm fine," Ash stuttered, "I guess I'm k-kinda nervous…"

Red gave the boy a reassuring pat on the back. He had forgotten that Ash, for all of his confidence and energy, occasionally went through bouts of shyness.

When the pair of trainers and their Pikachu entered the main room, the four instantly became slack jawed at the sight before them.

The room would not look out of place in a castle. Red was certain it was as large as a football field. Many chandeliers hung from the ceiling, one especially large one hanging above the center of the room. The walls were made of glass, showing off the impressive landscape surrounding the large building. There were long buffet tables laden with all sorts of food of to the sides. There were expensive looking chairs and tables placed here and there for those who grew tired of standing. A small orchestra played soft melodies that mingled with the sounds of conversation filling the air.

"You weren't kidding when you said it was fancy," Ash said in a small voice as he picked up Pikachu and held him close, both trainer and Pokémon gazing about in wonder at the large number of people who were in the room.

Red took a deep breath to give him strength to get through the night, his Pikachu jumping up on his shoulder and making happy noises as it looked around. He then motioned for Ash to follow him as they made their way toward the other trainers.

He didn't say anything as Ash stuck even closer than he did moments ago. Truth be told, as several eyes trained on him and he heard his name come from several whispered conversations, Red wished he himself had someone to hide behind.

Both Red and Ash relaxed a bit when they various types of Pokémon walking about. Red especially perked up at seeing several Pokémon he couldn't recognize, obviously from different regions. If nothing else, at least he could enjoy the opportunity to see some non-Kanto Pokémon up close. And perhaps Ash, who obviously recognized the different Pokémon, could tell Red more about them.

"Red?"

Out of habit, Red's eye twitched at hearing his name being uttered by a voice he wasn't familiar with. However, when he turned in the direction of the voice, he found that the young man who spoke wasn't a stranger after all.

"It _is_ you!" the young man, who looked to be a year or two younger than Red, exclaimed as he made his way over to Red, "Long time no see! I didn't expect you to be here, since you usually never come. You remember me, don't you?"

Bluish-black hair, gray eyes, a crooked smile on his face…And that large Typhlosion that was following him…

Of course Red remembered him.

"Hey, Ethan," he greeted with a soft smile as Pikachu jumped down to greet Typhlosion.

Ethan was the current regional Champion of the Johto region, but that wasn't how Red knew him. Red knew him back when the guy had shown up on Mt. Silver as the recently crowned Champion of the Johto League. Ethan had stated that he had heard that the famous Kanto Champion was residing on the summit and wanted to challenge him to a battle before attempting the Johto Elite Challenge.

Red had had several League Champions who, cheerful over their win, decided to come up and challenge him.

Needless to say, the results weren't pretty…

With a sigh, Red adjusted his hat and got ready for battle, almost certain as to how this would end but still taking the match seriously considering the fact that he wasn't too familiar with Johto Pokémon.

What happened over the next few minutes was one of the most surprising, and exciting, battles Red had faced since he had become the regional Champion.

Ethan was very calm and calculating during the battle. It was obvious from the first few moves that he had put a lot of thought into any possible match-ups before climbing the mountain. Red found himself taken aback when certain battles were taking much longer than he had anticipated.

It was when Red's first Pokémon fainted that he realized this was no ordinary match…

To put it shortly, Red had actually come close to losing on that day. And by "close to losing" he meant that his Pikachu and Charizard were the only Pokémon who managed not to faint by the end. It had been a long time since anyone other than Green and the former Kanto Champion had ever pushed Red so hard.

"So you _do_ remember," Ethan said happily, "That's a relief! I wish I could've come to visit after that match, but when I became the regional Champion, I got _busy_…Like uber busy…"

Red nodded in understanding. He had heard that Johto regional Champions were notoriously overworked. Red noticed Ethan's gaze fixed on something behind Red. The Kanto Champion followed the gaze, which was fixed on Ash.

Ash had a nervous but curious expression on his face as he looked back and forth between Red and Ethan. Pikachu freed himself from Ash's tight grip and joined his counterpart and the Typhlosion.

"So you brought a guest," Ethan stated as he grinned at Ash to make him feel at ease, "He looks a little like you. Even has his own Pikachu. Your little brother?"

"Old friends," Ash corrected, though Red had nodded at Ethan's question. Ash held out a slightly shaky hand, "I'm Ash Ketchum."

"Nice to meet-" Ethan began as he took the hand before cutting himself off, "Wait…Ash? So _you're_ the guy Red wouldn't shut up about back then!"

"Red and I had a match after I became the League Champion," Ethan explained upon seeing Ash's puzzled expression, "He proved even tougher than I imagined. After he won, a storm blew by. It was too dangerous for me to climb back down Mt. Silver so Red invited me to his house. One thing led to another and then suddenly he was going on and on about a kid from his hometown. You know I was led to believe you were as silent as a mime before coming up there."

Red's cheeks turned pink by what Ethan said, especially by how Ash would look at him as though he were an alien. He hadn't meant to be uncharacteristically chatty that day. He usually wasn't towards anyone else who came to Mt. Silver. But the storm was lasting longer than expected and even Red was growing tired of the awkward silence that was only occasionally broken by Pikachu and Typhlosion chatting by the heater. After Ethan had told Red about life in his hometown, Red had started talking about Pallet Town…and eventually he started to talk specifically about Ash. About how he couldn't wait for Ash to become old enough to start his own Pokémon journey, about which Pokémon he would catch, about his possible skills…

He ended up talking about Ash for a lot longer than either he or Ethan had planned.

"You bragged about _me_?" Ash asked disbelievingly, snapping Red out of his thoughts.

Red looked away, a bit embarrassed by how he had acted back then. Ethan chuckled at the expression.

"He threw any and all thoughts I had of him being the cool and silent legend of Kanto out of the water that day," Ethan teased.

Red huffed and gave Ethan a look that warned him to quit talking while he was ahead. Luckily for Ethan, he got the message.

"Nice to finally meet the kid he was talking about," Ethan said to Ash. He then looked at Red with a serious expression, "Oh, and be careful. There are a few MCs here…"

Ethan stared at the confused expressions on Red and Ash's faces.

"Oh right, this is your first time here, so you wouldn't know," Ethan stepped close to the pair and dropped his voice to a whisper, "Look over there."

Red and Ash followed Ethan's gaze and spotted a group of trainers hanging out near one of the tables. The men wore identical blue coats while the woman wore a dress in a similar shade of blue. They gave off a pompous aura as they looked around the room.

"They're part of the Masters Club," Ethan said, rolling his eyes to show his opinion on the name of the group, "They're made up of highly skilled trainers from around the world. It's not that big a group, mostly because they're _very_ picky and anyone with a handful of common sense refuses to join them."

"Are they bad or something?" Ash asked.

"Not 'bad' per say," Ethan answered, "More like they're elitists. They're not afraid to talk down to trainers they think aren't good enough. They're pretty darn snobby. They'll be the rudest jerks right to your face and not look the least bit ashamed. Being stuck with them for a few minutes can ruin your day…"

At that moment, a young woman with brown hair called Ethan's name. She stood next to a woman with blue hair and a grumpy looking young man with red hair who were also staring at the Johto Champion.

"Coming!" Ethan shouted to the group, "Well, nice meeting you, Ash. And it was great seeing you again, Red! Remember my warning…"

Red nodded as Ethan went off to join his friends. He glanced once more over at the MCs, frowning. Trainers who felt the need to be arrogant towards others because they themselves are talented or think they know better were high on the list of people Red despised. He looked down at Ash, who was also glaring at the Masters Club members.

"Don't look at me like that!" Ash exclaimed when he caught Red's gaze, "I won't cause any trouble with them. Otherwise, you'd get in trouble, right?"

Red felt touched that Ash, who had the tendency to be a little hot headed with certain kinds of people, didn't want to cause him any trouble.

"Hey, Red, can I go and see if any of my friends are here?" Ash asked.

The Champion wasn't too keen on letting Ash out of his sight, partly because of the MCs and partly because he didn't want to be left alone among all these strangers. But, upon seeing Ash's pleading expression, Red smirked and gave Ash a gentle push.

"Alright, let's go, Pikachu!" Ash shouted excitedly as his Pokémon jumped onto his shoulder.

Red watched the pair head off into the crowd, occasionally wincing when Ash accidentally sideswiped a few other guests. His own Pikachu climbed onto his shoulder and sighed as Red scratched it behind the ear. He glanced around, seeing several people staring at him.

"Gonna be one of those days…" Red muttered as a bunch of people made their way towards him.

* * *

"Not a single one!"

Ash sat down on a chair, his arms crossed in front of him and a pout on his face. Pikachu sat atop the table, munching away on a sugar cookie that was on a nearby plate. He offered one to his trainer, who took it and started chewing on it absentmindedly.

"I can't believe no one I know showed up," Ash said between grabbing more cookies and taking large bites of them, "I guess they're all pretty busy. Man, I wanted to at least see Cynthia or Virgil again."

"Oh…Hello…"

Ash looked up at the greeting and couldn't suppress his grimace.

Standing before him were three members of the Masters Club.

"Um, hi…" Ash replied as he stood up and brushed crumbs off his suit, "Sorry if I stole your table…And your cookies…"

Ash and the MCs stared at Pikachu, who was still nibbling away at a cookie with a smile. Upon seeing all the eyes trained on him, Pikachu sheepishly put down the half eaten cookie.

"No, no, it's fine!" the black haired man who seemed to be the leader of the trio said with a smile. There was a bigger than usual Rampardos right next to him, "I'm David. This is Jake and Nancy."

The blond man with an intimidating Gengar and the woman with dark green hair and an Absol nodded respectively. Ash gave them a short wave, a feeling of uneasiness building inside him. Ethan had said to stay away from these guys…

"Well, I'm-" Ash started.

"Ash Ketchum, we know," Jake interrupted, surprising Ash since people usually didn't know his name ahead of time.

"You came in here with the Kanto Champion, Red," Nancy stated.

"We wanted to talk with him," David sighed, "But he's surrounded by a mob."

"Uh oh…" Ash muttered, wondering if he should search for Red and save him.

"He's quite popular," Nancy remarked, "Well, strong and good looking trainers usually are."

"He's still more skilled than people would expect for a Kanto native," Jake said.

Ash's eyebrows furrowed as he stared at the blond.

"What's _that_ supposed to mean?" he asked.

"No offense," Jake went on, "We have a couple of trainers from Kanto in the club. But Kanto isn't exactly a strong force in the world."

"It's sort of considered to be one of the backwoods regions of the world," Nancy added, "Not strong economically and not known for many notable trainers. Red is one of those once in a blue moon deals."

Ash clenched his fist and opened his mouth, ready to respond to the remarks being made about Red and his home region. But Ash saw Pikachu waving his arms and giving Ash a warning look. Ash knew Pikachu was reminding him that he promised Red he wouldn't get in trouble with the MCs. He didn't want Red suffering any consequences because of his actions.

"But all that aside," David said in a tone that suggested he didn't see anything wrong with what his friends have been saying so far, "Any reason you happened to arrive with Red, Ash?"

"He's my friend," Ash answered shortly.

The MCs looked surprised for a moment before sharing looks with each other and holding back snickers, something that was ticking Ash off even more.

"What?" he asked angrily.

"It's surprising that one of the most famous regional Champions is hanging out with a rookie," David replied.

Ash gritted his teeth at that. Now he saw what Ethan meant when he said how easily the MCs could be rude to your face.

"I'm not a rookie," Ash retorted, "I've been to all sorts of places and competed in a bunch of Leagues."

"Yes, we know," Jake told him in a bored tone, "Whenever a trainer peaks our interest, we do research on that trainer."

"Though, to be clear, we only researched you because of reports of you being spotted around Red so much," Nancy clarified, "To be honest, we thought you were just some fanboy at first."

"As for not being a rookie…" David said, looking at Ash with a pompous smirk, "You may have been doing a lot but you haven't had many notable achievements. A few wins in forgettable little competitions and the only League you won is one that hasn't even been officially recognized yet."

"We thought you would prove us wrong when you won the Battle Frontier and placed in the Sinnoh Top Four," David continued, "Along with defeating two legendary Pokémon…But then you went and placed in the Top Eight in Unova…"

Ash flinched at that. While he had fun in the Unova League, he wasn't too happy that he went down in rank in that competition. Mostly because he had been hoping to do better so that Red would be proud of him…

"Also, let's consider some of your Pokémon," Nancy chimed in, stepping towards the table and looking closely at an uncomfortable Pikachu, "For example, we heard that you started out with this Pikachu, much like Red. Yet you still haven't evolved it."

"Pikachu doesn't want to evolve," Ash said firmly, Pikachu nodding in agreement, "Neither does Red's. I'm not going to force any of my Pokémon to evolve if they don't want to."

"That's how a rookie talks. A Raichu packs a larger punch than some little Pikachu. Then, we heard that you caught a Gible and didn't evolve it. Pitiful, considering that a Garchomp would be an ace. Then, there's the fact that only a fraction of your Pokémon have evolved to their final forms."

"And let's not forget that infamous Charizard of his," Jake piped up.

"What _about_ Charizard?" Ash asked warily, not liking what they were saying about his precious Pokémon.

"I don't think we need to remind you of that embarrassing performance in the Indigo Conference," Jake laughed, causing Ash's cheeks to redden for a moment, "Who brings an untrained Pokémon to a League match? But we heard that your Charizard's abilities skyrocketed over time…Yet we rarely see him in major matches anymore…"

"Charizard's been doing special training," Ash answered, "If I really need his help, I can call on him. And I've been traveling with him recently."

"All things considered," David said, acting as though Ash hadn't spoken, "For someone who's friends with a top trainer like Red, you're nothing like him."

Ash tensed up at that.

"Oh? Did I hit a nerve?"

Ash kept his eyes locked on the floor, staying silent as he held his fists tightly and shook slightly.

Not like Red…He hated those words, those thoughts. That constant bitterness that accompanied those words.

He didn't want to feel like that towards him…

"So he's trying to be like that legendary Champion, huh?" Nancy said, "Figure, since many young trainers idolize him."

"He's been doing a rather terrible job so far though," Jake chuckled.

Pikachu let out an angry growl, his cheeks sparking as he glared at the MCs.

"Stop, Pikachu."

"Pika?" the Pokémon asked as Ash came over and scooped him up in his arms.

"Bye," Ash spat out as he turned his back on the MCs and started to walk away.

Ash tried to block out the group's laughter. Pikachu sounded worried as he looked up at Ash's face, Ash's arms tightening around him.

He _wasn't_ like Red…No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't match up with his friend. Red was able to become Champion in a snap, but Ash only recently was able to become a semifinalist.

Ash frowned as he remembered what Ethan said about Red bragging about Ash, even though Ash wasn't even a trainer at that time. He thought about all the hopes and dreams Red had had for him back then.

"Pikachu…I don't feel good…"

* * *

Red let out a sigh of relief as he hung out on the balcony of the estate, looking out at the lake, which sparkled under the light of the full moon. Several Butterfree flew across the skies, a couple landing in the vast flower fields near the estate. He smiled as he spotted a couple of Poliwags and Magikarp jumping in the lake.

Pikachu let out its own sigh as a gentle breeze blew by. It was nice and quiet out on the balcony. Red was more than happy that no one had thought to follow him outside.

Red was ready to smack himself for jinxing things when he heard the balcony door opening behind him.

"Red?"

The Champion spun around when he saw that it was Ash instead of some random trainer. Ash's Pikachu jumped out of his arms and went to where Red's Pikachu was. The Pokémon pair started to have what looked like a heated conversation, Ash's Pikachu looking very angry about something.

Red turned his attention away from them as Ash walked up to him. He smiled at the younger boy, who wasn't meeting his gaze for some reason.

"Are we going home soon?" Ash asked.

Red blinked in surprise at that. Hadn't Ash been having any fun? He bent down to try and force Ash to meet his gaze, but Ash merely turned his head.

That didn't stop Red from noticing that expression on Ash's face.

"Never mind," Ash said, "C'mon, Pikachu, let's go to the buffet."

Pikachu walked after his trainer. The pair didn't get far before Red cut Ash off. The Champion crossed his arms in front of him and stared at Ash with concern.

"Nothing's wrong," Ash insisted, still refusing to look at Red, "Just tell me when you're ready to go."

Ash walked around Red and went back into the main room, his Pikachu right behind him. As his own Pikachu jumped onto his shoulder, Red stared after the kid.

Why had Ash looked like he wanted to cry?

_They're part of the Masters Club…_ _Being stuck with them for a few minutes can ruin your day…_

As Ethan's warning echoed through his mind, Red's eyes narrowed.

* * *

"Look at that," Nancy whispered as she nudged David and Jake.

The two followed Nancy's gaze and their eyes widened in surprise. There, making his way straight for them at a brisk pace, was Kanto Champion Red.

"And here I thought we'd have to look for him," Jake chuckled.

"Let's take this to mean he'll want to join us," David said, "Can you imagine what the other members will say when we tell them we got _Red_ to join?"

When Red stopped just in front of the trio, he only glanced at the group's Pokémon for barely a second before focusing on David's face. Red's Pikachu was on the ground, right next to his leg, looking fiercely at the Pokémon as sparks flew from its cheeks.

None of the MCs seemed to notice the tense atmosphere. Instead, David began to greet Red. But…

"Did you talk to Ash Ketchum?"

The MCs gaped at Red, who had asked his question the second David had opened his mouth. They had heard that Red was not much of a talker. And whenever he did talk, he was not one to start the conversation. Plus, in all of the interviews they had seen of him, his voice had never sounded so cold and direct.

"I beg your pardon?" David responded, a bit confused.

Red took a step closer, invading David's personal space, and stared at the blond unblinkingly. He was standing straight as he could, using every inch of his height to his advantage. His hands were in his pockets but his body wasn't relaxed. His expression looked calm, like a poker face, but there was a flicker of…_something_…in his eyes.

His expression showed that he was not repeating the question. The MCs should have heard it clearly.

"Um…Yes, we did speak to the boy," David answered after a moment, taking a step back.

"Outside," Red ordered in a harsh tone as he removed his coat and loosened his tie.

The Champion spun around and started to head for the door that led to the entrance, Pikachu right at his side. He paused when the MCs didn't follow him.

"What's this-?"

Jake's question died when Red looked over his shoulder at the three.

In that moment, Red looked nothing like that trainer from an hour ago who was staring about the room with his jaw dropped like a fool. One could practically feel the intense aura radiating off of him. He didn't have to say anything. He didn't even have to make a threatening move.

This was Red…This was the legendary Champion of the Kanto region…

His eyes narrowed at them, once again warning the trio that he wasn't repeating what he said. They took the message and followed him, their Pokémon close behind.

David then realized what that something was that he saw in Red's eyes.

Fury.

* * *

"Hey, Pikachu," Ash said though a mouthful of pasta, "Was I being a brat before?"

Pikachu shook his head, his cheeks too stuffed with lasagna for him to make a sound. Both trainer and Pokémon were seated at their own little table near the buffet. A couple of trainers came over to talk with them but they didn't stay long. In fact, most of the others left them alone.

Whether this was due to the gloomy mood Ash was giving off, or the abnormally tall stack of empty plates on the table, was the question.

"I think I made Red feel bad," Ash continued after gulping some water, "We should go find him and say sorry. I don't want to ruin this party for him…"

"Hey, Ash…"

"Hi, Ethan," Ash greeted. He noticed the nervous yet excited expression on the older boy's face, "What's up?"

"It's Red…"

"Huh? What's wrong with him?"

Ethan didn't waste words, instead grabbing Ash's arm and dragging him out of the main room, down the hall, and out the entrance, Pikachu just barely keeping up. Ash was shocked to see a large crowd cheering and gasping about something that he couldn't see.

Ash and Ethan shoved their way through the crowd until they made it to the front.

"Aww, it's over?" Ethan moaned, Ash stuck right behind him and still unable to see, "I was only gone for a couple minutes!"

"That's what you get for leaving, moron," the red haired boy from earlier, one of Ethan's friends, stated.

"I had to get Ash!" Ethan retorted, "He's Red's friend."

"And both of you missed it," the blue haired girl said.

"Typical Ethan," the brunette sighed.

"Shut up, jerks…" Ethan mumbled, "How'd it go?"

"He only used his Pikachu."

"I still can't see!" Ash shouted.

Ethan moved to the side so Ash could squeeze through. What was before him made him stop and stare.

There were the three MCs, their mouths wide open in shock and their eyes almost bulging out of their heads. In front of them were their Rampardos, Gengar, and Absol, all fainted and lying in a pile. In front of the pile was Red's Pikachu, nonchalantly scratching its ear.

Just a couple feet behind Pikachu was Red himself, his arms crossed before him and his gaze fixed on the MCs. Most people would assume that Red looked perfectly calm. But Ash, even from this distance, could see how tense Red was, that look in his eyes.

He couldn't remember the last time he had seen Red so angry.

The MCs all flinched when Red marched up to them, Pikachu jumping onto his shoulder along the way and looking rather devious to contrast Red's expression.

"I'll only say this once," he warned in a soft but severe voice, "_Never_ speak about or to Ash again."

After the MCs nodded, Red glanced over at the crowd that had gathered and spotted Ash, who was still staring at Red.

Red's expression turned gentle as he made his way over to Ash. Once he reached the kid, he placed a hand atop Ash's head and grinned at him, their Pikachu giving each other a thumbs up. Before Ash could say anything, there was a _slight_ interruption.

"What's going on here?"

"Oh great, it's the security guards," someone in the crowd grumbled.

* * *

"So…Banished from this party thing for the next five years…"

Red and Ash slowly made their way down the road after having been kicked out from the party thanks to Red's battle. The MCs had gone scrambling when the guards had shown up, so only Red had gotten in trouble. At least Red had managed to make Ethan promise to come to Mt. Silver soon before going.

"Kind of harsh for one battle," Ash commented as the Pikachu pair went off ahead and raced each other, "If you weren't banished, would you consider going again?"

Ash laughed at the look on Red's face. The answer was obvious…

"You battled for me," Ash said apologetically, "Sorry I got you in trouble, Red…"

Red reached over and bonked Ash on the head lightly, a playful smirk on his face.

"Hey!" Ash cried as he rubbed his head, "I'm happy you did that for me though."

Red smiled at Ash, who looked much happier than he had before. It didn't matter that he had gotten in trouble over the battle. He was glad that Ash was back to normal.

"We're not supposed to be back for another hour," Ash sighed, "What'll we tell our moms?"

Red paused and reached into his pocket, pulling out a Pokéball. Ash looked excited as Red's Charizard popped out and roared loudly.

"We're flying?" Ash asked excitedly.

"Night's still young," Red replied.

Ash let out a whoop as he ran towards Charizard, both of the Pikachu following his lead and a chuckling Red right behind them.

* * *

EIGHT WHOLE LINES! A new record! Red was a chatterbox today! Though with how long this chapter is, it doesn't seem like he talked much. A long chapter as an apology for the long absence. Sorry it's up so late, I was working for a while on this one.

And yes, this chapter's special guest was Ethan, who some of you may know better as Gold, the male protagonist of the Johto games. Though I didn't mention the others by name, I'm sure some of you recognized his friends. To be clear, the redhead was Silver, the rival. The brunette was Lyra, the female protagonist of HeartGold and SoulSilver. And the blue haired girl was Kris, the female protagonist of Crystal. I hope you liked seeing their short but fun appearance. I've been meaning to have at least Ethan show up at some point in this story.

What else…? Oh yeah, so this chapter brings up the point that I made in the bottom notes during chapter eight, which is that, at least in this universe, Kanto is considered to be one of the weaker regions. It's like one of those backwoods places, even though it has big cities and stuff. I guess you could consider Red and Ash to be sort of like country bumpkins in this story, since Pallet Town is more of a rural area and located in the rural part of Kanto.

This chapter also brought back points from chapter nine, specifically Ash's bitterness in regards to not being as great as Red. It's a very sore point. I'm still working on when and how to have the two confront each other on their respective bitterness issues.

I also brought back a point I made in chapter ten, which is that Ash is not as good at handling bullies as Red, Green, and Gary. That's why Red's only warning was that the MCs back off of Ash. Red, Green, and Gary can handle themselves better. Not that they don't get hurt. It's just that they can dish out as much as they take in their own ways. Ash, while having gotten better with age, still isn't that skilled and gets hurt more easily, especially when things he's vulnerable about get poked at, like I showed in this chapter.

I also brought up something I've been waiting forever to show off…Angry Red. I have a personal headcanon in regards to angry Red. While he does get annoyed, he doesn't get truly angry often. But when he does, it's rather frightening. First off, if something needs to be said, he'll be short and to the point. He's very direct and he will NOT repeat himself. He also makes his body posture very tense and uses his height to his advantage to make his opponent uncomfortable. Plus, while he looks like he's wearing a poker face, it's very clear from his eyes that he is pissed off. Unlike others though, Red prefers to settle things through Pokémon battles, only resorting to fist fights as a last resort. This is because another headcanon I have is that Red is not a very physical person because he's not that strong. I'm sure some of you are let down that I didn't show Red's battle with the MCs but was there any doubt of how it would go? It was brutal. Not that Red would take his anger out on Pokémon. It's just that he would make sure the battle was as brief as possible to prove a point.

Anyways, I hope you enjoyed the chapter! Please read and review!


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